Reboot: Mass Effect
by Chris7221
Summary: A long time ago, a deadly threat ravaged the galaxy. Earth was saved in a desperate plan, and to its inhabitants only a few years had gone by while the galaxy changed around them. Now, the threat is coming back, and all will be revealed. CANCELLED
1. The Reveal

I was reading Reboot and had an idea. What if instead of the Star Trek verse, it was the Mass Effect verse? I had a similar idea to this before, but I finally decided to go ahead and write it. Since this is the version, you don't get the link to Reboot or the fancy logo I made in Paint, GIMP and . You want the enhanced version of ANY of my fics, go to Spacebattles.

* * *

Commander Jane Shepard swung her rifle around the corner. The Prothean beacon was finally in sight. As were two husks and two Geth troopers. She dropped down below the solid railing, the Geth fire passing harmlessly above her. Of course, the husks were probably moving rapidly toward them. Unlike the robotic Geth, husks were cybernetic, half-dead suicide troops made by impaling enemy casualties on massive spikes.

Eden Prime was a human colony on the edge of Alliance space, once a beautiful garden world well worthy of its name. Now it was a wasteland. The Geth hadn't been seen beyond the Perseus Veil in literal ages. Led by a Turian named Saren, it was obvious they had come to the colony for the beacon. The beacon was a relic of the ancient Protheans, the same race that had left ruins on Mars that led to the discovery of the Mass Effect and advanced human science by hundreds of years. That was in 2148. It was now 2183, and humanity was a prominent member of the galactic community. Of course, other races such as the Asari had discovered spaceflight earlier.

It hadn't been an easy fight. Their Turian companion, a Spectre named Nihlus, had been shot in the back by Saren. Shepard had lost one of her men, Jenkins, gunned down by Geth recon drones. She had found a lone soldier that had escaped the massacre, a Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. The two of them and Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko formed their three-strong squad. Shepard liked small squads. They had pushed through Geth-controlled areas, chasing down a beacon that was constantly being moved. Bombs were planted by Saren and the Geth with the intention of destroying the entire area, but they were able to defuse them. Finally, they had made it to the beacon.

"Cover me!" Shepard ordered, shouldering her rifle.

"Yes ma'am," Williams acknowledged. Shepard still couldn't figure out what was with the pink-and-white armor. It wasn't practical, and by now it was so dirty that it wasn't pretty anymore either. Despite appearances, Williams was a skilled combat soldier. She fired at the Geth position in short bursts to avoid overheating her rifle.

Shepard concentrated on the husks- they were the immediate threat. She took down one with a burst from her assault rifle. Before she could get off a single shot at the other one, the cybernetic abomination was surrounded with a blue aura and slammed into the wall behind it.

"Good job," Shepard said to the lieutenant. Kaidan Alenko was a biotic- a person that could manipulate mass effect fields with their mind. With a little help from element zero in their bodies and an implanted amp, of course. Biotics were rare among humans and never natural, but biotic ability varied among aliens. Some likened biotic powers to telekinesis, whereas fans of classic sci-fi insisted it was a real-life version of the Force.

The two Geth troopers returned fire. One of the tiny slugs slammed into Shepard's armor, stopped by the kinetic barriers protecting her body. She unleashed a carefully aimed burst of fire into the Geth's flashlight-like head, tearing through the machine's kinetic barriers and then through it's electronic brain.

"Clear!" Shepard shouted. "Move up!"

The proceeded carefully down the stairs. No sign of Geth activity. One of the husks twitched, and Williams put a round through its head, splattering a disgusting goo everywhere.

"Normandy, the beacon is secure. Request immediate evac," Shepard said, activating her communicator.

Kaiden approached the beacon with Ashley behind him. It was a tall, slim device with an angular base, all made out of dull grey metal. A blue-green light pulsed from the beacon. "This is amazing!" Kaiden exclaimed. "Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!"

"They say this is even older than the ruins on Mars," Ashley agreed. "Much older. And it wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up!"

"Something must have activated it," Kaiden muttered, edging closer to the device.

"Whoever activated it wasn't very nice about it," Chief Williams pointed out. She pointed to where a panel had been removed and the crystalline insides tampered with. "I wonder what they did to it."

Kaidan was now only a meter away from the beacon, which caught Shepard's attention. "Get away from that thing!" she ordered, moving toward them. Kaiden backed away as Shepard approached.

As soon as she got within a meter of the device, three things happened. The beacon glowed an intense green, much brighter than before. Shepard was picked up like a ragdoll and suspended in front of the device. And strangest of all, images began appearing in her head.

"Shepard!" Kaidan called, but she was barely aware of it. There was another voice, but she didn't even notice that one. Intense images flashed through her mind. A group of humans dressed in what looked like late 20th or early 21st century clothing. A pyramid-like starship battling a grey, blocky starship. A spinning stone ring. A strange glowing crystal. Another starship, this one with a massive glowing hollow centre, emerging from what looked like a puddle of water contained in a ring-shaped object. A much more organic looking ship and a vampiric humanoid. She saw the Citadel under construction, and finally a cuttlefish-like object. Then she was dropped violently and passed out.

* * *

The next thing she knew, Shepard was in Normandy's sickbay. Her head was pounding and she was quite dizzy. She forced her eyes open and briefly saw double before the world slowly came into focus.

"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up." A voice. Lieutenant Alenko. Shepard slowly sat up. It didn't hurt that much.

"You had us worried there, Shepard," the doctor said. She had dull grey hair and spoke with a British accent. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad," Shepard replied. "Bit of a headache. What happened?"

"You approached the beacon on Eden Prime," Alenko said. "It activated, picked you up, held you for a while. Then it just exploded. Blast knocked you cold, Williams and I had to carry you back to the ship."

"Physically, you're fine," Chakwas reported. "But I detected some unusual brain activity- increased, actually. If I didn't know better I'd have said you formed a lot of new-oh, Captain Anderson!"

Shepard turned as the Captain entered the room. Dreaming... it was starting to come back. "How's our XO holding up, Doctor?"

"Most of the readings look normal. I'd say the commander's going to be fine, physically at least," Chakwas reported. "But we did find some abnormal brain activity. I don't think the Prothean beacon caused any permanent damage, however."

"It wasn't Prothean," Shepard blurted out.

"What?" Ashley said, stopping in the middle of the doorway. She had overestimated how long it would take the Commander to regain consciousness and decided that cleaning her gun was more important. Of course, she stopped as soon as she heard the news.

"The beacon wasn't Prothean," Shepard repeated. "It was built in 2015 by Colonel Samantha Carter and Doctor Rodney McKay using reverse-engineered Ancient Repository technology."

The sound of the Normandy's ventilation and other systems was deafening compared to the resulting silence. Ashley broke the silence after what seemed like an eternity. "How the hell do you know that? Uh, excuse me, ma'am."

"It's okay," Shepard replied. "I don't really know myself. The beacon, repository, whatever it was, put images in my head. But it also put thoughts, ideas- it's really hard to describe. That just came to me."

"Did you say 2015?" Chakwas asked. "That predates Mass Effect technology by a hundred years!"

Shepard managed to avoid blurting out facts this time. "They used something called a Stargate that allowed nearly instantaneous interplanetary travel. You would just... walk through the thing and end up on another world. The Stargate was discovered in Giza in 1928 and 1945 experimentally, though nothing came of that. The United States Air Force started operating the Stargate program in 1994 or 1997- I'm not sure of the date."

"Then where did it all go and why haven't we seen any evidence of these Stargates?" Captain Anderson asked. "This could be a deliberate attempt to throw us off... or it could change everything we know about galactic history."

"My god..." Shepard trailed off. "That ship, they call them Reapers. They're sentient starships. And there are a lot of them, lurking out beyond the edges of the galaxy. And... they have one goal. To wipe out all organic life. In fact they did it already. That's why we're here. That's why everything changed."

She looked up. "Another flash of insight. I think I have some control over it- some things just pop up out of nowhere but if I think about it I can bring them up."

"Take all the time you need, Commander. We're a few hours out from the Citadel, you have until then to write a preliminary report," Anderson ordered. He paused. "I cannot stress how important it is that this does not leave the room. You may not discuss it with anybody- not the Normandy's crew, not me, not each other. Is that understood."

There was a chorus of "Yes sir."

"Good. When we get to the Citadel I'll inform my superiors. Commander, the beacon knocked you unconscious, nothing more. Doctor Chakwas, I want you to remove all mention of abnormal brain activity from the medical records. Dismissed."

* * *

**Preliminary Report #4559247  
Eden Prime Beacon, Tau'ri Legacy**

_Personal Remark:_ This was very difficult to write. Some things just came to me, and some of those things were just plain distracting. Other times I really had to focus on a certain topic to get any sort of information. The beacon, repository, whatever it is, is very advanced and Chakwas still isn't sure what it did to my brain. Still, I think I have put together a reasonably complete picture of what happened over the last few hundred (to us) or million (to the rest of the galaxy) years. The process wasn't exactly pleasant, but someone named O'Neill apparently is sorry, and that this device is much less dangerous than the original. Apparently I have something called the ATA gene as well, which explains why the beacon responded to me but not Lieutenant Alenko.

In 1928 CE, an alien device called a Stargate was discovered buried in what is now the Greater Arabic Republic. The Stargate is circular stone-like ring capable of transporting living matter across interstellar distances using an artificial wormhole. Each Stargate needed a destination Stargate to "dial" to, and these were placed across the galaxy. The Stargates were built by the Ancients, a highly advanced ancient race that disappeared thousands of years ago. Interestingly, they appear to be human or very close to human. Alien influences apparently affected Earth mythology, with figures such as Ra and Thor having extraterrestrial origin.

In 1945 CE, the Stargate was activated for the first time, but it was only an experimental trial. In the late 20th century, the United States Air Force began using the Stargate for military and exploration purposes. They encountered other humans in the galaxy who were previously taken from Earth as slaves by the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld were a race of parasitic aliens who inhabited human hosts, and were, in a word, evil. Eventually, their iron rule of the galaxy was broken, largely by the humans from Earth. They also encountered the Asgard, an advanced race that was once allied with the Ancients and possibly responsible for UFO myths. The Asgard were nearly wiped out by the Replicators. The Replicators were a machine race that turned anything they could find into more Replicators.

There is truth to the legend of Atlantis. Around 2004 or 2005, the city was discovered. It was built by the Ancients and once sat where Antarctica is today, but was moved to the Pegasus Galaxy. The humans from Earth sent a small expedition to Atlantis, where they encountered another hostile race. The Wraith were a humanoid race that could drain the "life force" from humans via some unknown method. The expedition did not encounter any live Ancients, however humans were present in the Pegasus Galaxy as well.

Later on, a splinter group of the Ancients, the Ori, entered the Milky Way via a massive Stargate and crushed all resistance to their religious crusade. They were eventually destroyed thanks to technological advancements and recovered Ancient technology. The Wraith would continue to be a threat of varying strength for years afterward.

The state of the Milky Way Galaxy after the defeat of the Ori and the collapse of the Goa'uld empire is a confusing subject. It seems that there was a lot of chaos, with small factions and criminal elements fighting for dominance. Conversely, it seemed to be a time of prosperity, with the Citadel being constructed as a symbol of galactic unity and as a gateway to the Pegasus Galaxy. It is worth noting that the Stargate still had not been revealed to the public. It is also worth noting that Mass Effect technology seemed to be completely unknown to the people of either galaxy at this point in time.

On a supply mission to the Pegasus Galaxy in 2014, the Earth ship _Daedalus_ encountered a new alien lifeform. These would later be termed "Reapers". They are a race of sentient starships, each one massively powerful compared to anything we have encountered. The Reapers' sole mission is to destroy all organic life for reasons unknown. The Reapers may be as old as the Ancients- however after a failed invasion thousands of years ago they went dormant in dark space. However, the Milky Way Galaxy had been racked by war, and the Reapers were numerous enough to carry out their plans.

With the Reapers on their way to Earth and their forces decimated, the humans of Earth that knew about the Stargate came up with a desperate plan. On September 14, 2014, their plan was put into action. Earth was simultaneously shifted out of phase and encased in a time dilation field, both based on Ancient technology. The plan was to keep Earth isolated until the Reaper threat passed.

However, something went wrong and Earth would be cut off for millions of years. During that time, the Reapers presumably continued their cycle, allowing life to evolve and then destroying it. Several key personnel were able to escape to Atlantis or other offworld bases. Two of them, Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Rodney McKay, planted the beacon, leaving a message for future humans to discover.

Although Earth was cut off for millions of years, only a few passed to the humans of Earth. The galaxy had gone through untold changes, and we didn't know anything about it apart from the unexplained Celestial Shift Event of 2016-2017. All, or at least almost all, records of the Stargate's existence were destroyed.

* * *

Ambassador Udina looked up from the datapad. "You expect me to present this to the Citadel Council?" Composed of an Asari, a Salarian, and a Turian, the Council formed the most powerful governing body in the galaxy. The Citadel was the heart of galactic politics and commerce, supposedly built by the long-extinct Protheans. But if this was true...

"Yes, actually I do," Shepard said. She really, really hated Udina, and they had just met.

"This looks like the kind of pro-human trash a sci-fi writer would turn out!" Udina fumed. "True or not, nobody is going to believe this."

"I hate to admit it, but Udina has a point," Anderson agreed. "If you were the Council- which explanation would you go with? That someone made up a bunch of bullshit to make humanity look good, or that everything we know about galactic history is null and void."

"We should at least try," Shepard argued. "Maybe we can find evidence if we know what to look for."

"Like what, the CSE?" Udina shot back. "That was proven to be caused by gravitational lensing from a moving black hole in-"

"Look, damn it, if this is true then the galaxy is on the verge of destruction." Shepard pounded her fist on the table. "Except this time around, we won't have a time dilation device to protect Earth. There will be nothing left of humanity, nothing left of anyone!"

"Calm down Shepard, you've made your point." Anderson said. He shot Udina a death glare. "We're meeting with the council anyway to discuss Saren's treachery. We can mention it at the same time."

"This meeting serves no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, Councilor. And mine," the holographic form of Saren spat. The Council was actually _protecting_ Saren. Did they not want to admit one of their precious Spectres had gone rogue, or were they just racist?

"Saren's hiding behind his position as Spectre," Shepard argued. "You need to open your eyes!"

"What we need is evidence," the Salarian councilor replied. "So far, we have seen nothing."

"There is still one outstanding issue," Captain Anderson said. "Commander?"

Even before Shepard began, she knew the Council would never believe them, even with evidence. "Councilors, to put it bluntly, almost everything we know about the history of this galaxy is wrong..."


	2. Investigation

Reboot Mass Effect Chapter 2: Investigation

Story is being continued thanks to popular demand. In this chapter, Shepard must prove Saren is a traitor, with some help of course.

* * *

"That," the Turian councillor spat, "is the most absurd, human centric, ill-conceived garbage I have ever heard in my entire life!"

"If that is the best of your military I do not want to see the worst!" the Turian raged. "Consider your Spectre candidacy gone!"

The Asari councillor glared at him. "Until scientifically verified evidence is provided, we must dismiss these claims as nothing more than a figment of Commander Shepard's imagination."

"The Reapers are coming," Shepard argued. "They defeated factions much more powerful than us. We can't just sit here and let them come."

"Ah yes, 'Reapers'," the Turian councillor said, his voice dripping with cynicism. "How convenient. We have to do what you say, or the Reapers will come!"

Captain Anderson stepped in. "I have a hard time believing it, too. But we've seen Prothean artifacts before. We know what they're capable of. It's a very real possibility that these visions have real significance."

"But you said it yourself, the beacon wasn't built by the Protheans," the Turian argued. "It was built by humans. As was the Citadel. Did they build a giant complex on Ploba as well?"

A sequence of thoughts, jumbled at first, quickly passed through Shepard's mind. She could make sense of some of it, and managed to say it in a decent way this time. "Ploba, a gas giant with possible megastructures on it. Known to the Tau'ri as P4R-992. It was part of a failed experiment to control the Replicators. I don't know the specifics, though."

"Claims of megastructures below the surface of Ploba have never been proved in a substantial manner," the Asari councillor said calmly. "Therefore we can neither confirm nor deny your claims."

"This is pointless," Shepard said dejectedly. "Nothing I say will change your stance on this. Thank you for your time." She did a smart about turn and followed Udina and Anderson away from the Council.

"Did you really expect them to believe that?" Udina seethed. "Supposedly the best of humanity spouts out random garbage- do you have any idea what the political ramifications are?"

"I'm not even sure if I believe it," Anderson agreed. "Still, I'll do my best to find some evidence. If what you say is true, there ought to be some traces of the Stargate Program left on Earth."

"Thank you, sir," Shepard said. "Where do I go from here?"

"Regardless of whether all those things really happened, we know that Saren is working with the Geth and attacking human colonies," Anderson replied. "Finding some proof of his involvement shouldn't be too difficult, but perhaps we should have someone else present it."

Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina had some business or other to attend to, so Shepard was left with Kaiden and Ashley. As they headed toward the elevator to the Presidium, a Turian interrupted them.

"Commander Shepard?" he called.

Shepard stopped and turned around. "Yes, that's me. What do you want?"

"Garrus Vakarian," he said, introducing himself. "I was the C-Sec officer in charge of Saren's investigation."

"Well, did you find anything on him?" Shepard said, motioning the Turian to the elevator. The doors slid shut behind the procession.

"Because of his Spectre status, most of his files are classified. I wasn't able to get anything solid, but I had a bad feeling about him. However, just a few hours ago, I hit a break. I was investigating extortion on the Wards when I found a doctor being threatened. Turns out she was treating a Quarian..."

"Who knows something about Saren," Shepard finished.

"Exactly. The thugs were hired by Fist, owner of the Chora's Den. Disgusting bar, but quite a few useful sources there."

"So why didn't you just bust him?" Gunnery Chief Williams asked.

"I was taken off the case," Garrus explained. "If I start shooting up the place, I could get in a lot of trouble. Although I did consider doing it anyway."

"And you want me to do this so someone else can take the blame?" Shepard asked, slightly disgusted.

"Not exactly," Garrus replied, pulling his mandibles apart. "If I go in alone, I have very few options. I basically have to catch them off guard and shoot first. But with three experienced soldiers, we can ask nicely and shoot later."

"Is really a good idea, Commander?" Kaidan asked as they stepped out of the elevator, now on the Presidium. "It sounds pretty dangerous in more ways than one."

"If it works, we might be able to take down Saren," Shepard argued. "There's a whole galaxy at stake here. Garrus," she said, offering a hand.

The Turian cop grabbed her hand in a three-fingered grip and shook it firmly. "We're in agreement, then. We should get to Fist's bar as soon as possible."

"Agreed- Wait, how come I never noticed that before," Shepard said.

"What, the Prothean sculpture?" Garrus asked. The artifact was almost directly in front of them, sitting on a platform on the water which was connected to the walkway by a wide bridge. An Avina terminal sat in front, and the platform was cordoned off with ropes. The "sculpture" was a round ring several metres in diameter, dark grey metal with seven equidistant chevrons visible along the outer edge.

"That's no Prothean art," Shepard corrected. "It's a Stargate."

"A what?" Garrus asked, confused.

"I take it you didn't hear our conversation with the council." Garrus shook his head. "I'll fill you in on the way there. Let's go."

* * *

"That's a very... interesting story, Commander," Garrus said as they stepped out of the elevator onto Tayseri Ward. "It would explain a lot, but it's still a lot to take in. If what you say is true..."

"Then everything we know is wrong," Shepard finished. "I know, it's pretty heavy stuff."

"But how come we never found any evidence?" Garrus asked.

"Probably because we never looked," Shepard replied.

"I suppose," Garrus agreed. "We should get moving."

"It's your district, Garrus. You lead the way."

Garrus nodded. The Wards held the majority of the Citadel's population. There were five "arms" in total, each with towering skyscrapers built on top. They had arrived on the lower level of Tayseri Ward, in a small but busy market district. It was busy, with people bustling all around. Garrus led them through the crowds and past an alley toward the bar.

There was a loud gunshot, and all four of them automatically drew their weapons. "Trouble," Garrus said, motioning to the entrance of the bar. Shepard approached the door, assault rifle raised.

The door slid open, revealing a scene of carnage. Unfortunate customers, bartenders and exotic dancers hid under the tables. Dead bodies lined the room. The stench of death and spilled drinks permeated the air.

"Back room, go," Shepard ordered, heading towards the back. A trail of bodies and blood led through a set of doors into a decently furnished office. Inside was a large, tough-looking Krogan in blood-red armor was pointing a gun at a human in black armor, lying on the floor clutching his bleeding leg.

"It's time to die, Fist," the Krogan said in a characteristically deep voice. "Nothing personal, just doing my job."

"Stop! C-Sec!" Garrus shouted, pointing his pistol at the Krogan.

"I don't care who you are, Turian," the Krogan said, not batting an eyelash. "I was hired to kill this man. I don't leave a job unfinished."

"We need information from that man," Shepard said, also pointing her weapon at the large alien. "After we're done, you're free to do anything you want with him."

The Krogan glanced at them. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Shepard said.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Commander?" Garrus whispered.

"No, but it's the best I've got," she whispered back.

"All right, fine," the Krogan said, surprising them all. "But I'm watching you."

Shepard stepped towards the man. "Are you Fist?"

"Yeah. Who the hell are you?" Fist replied, coughing up blood.

"Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance. The Turian is Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security. We're working on a case of vital importance to the council. In other words, I can do whatever the hell I want to you."

"What do you want from me?" Fist asked in a raspy voice.

"The Quarian. I need to know what you did with him. Now."

"It's a her, not a him," Fist said.

"Don't be a smartass," Shepard snapped.

"I'm not telling you anything," the man spat.

Shepard shouldered her assault rifle, pulling out a pistol. She fired twelve times, each shot narrowly missing the man. The Krogan watched the exchange in interest. The Commander certainly had a different way of doing things.

"I'm not telling you shit!" Fist shouted defiantly. "That doesn't scare me."

Unfazed, Jane popped the cover off her pistol, revealing a red-hot heat sink. She pulled it out with her gloved fingers and pressed it to Fist's unprotected cheek. He screamed in agony and tried to roll away as the boiling hot metal burned the soft flesh of his face. The heat was starting to burn through her gloves, so Jane pulled the heatsink away and inserted it back into her pistol. "The Quarian. Now."

"In the alley," Fist groaned, in an incredible amount of pain. "She came to me, wanting to talk to the Shadow Broker. Nobody deals directly with the Broker, but she didn't know that. So I double-crossed her and sold her ass to a Spectre- Saren I think his name was. It doesn't matter- the meet's already happening."

"Bingo," Shepard said, standing up. "We've got him. Krogan, what's your name?"

"Wrex."

"Well then, Wrex, carry on." There was a loud shotgun blast as they left the room.

"Unorthodox, Shepard," Garrus said as they jogged out of the bar. "But I like it."

* * *

They dropped down behind crates just after entering the alley. Below and in front of them was a group of armoured Salarians, one Turian, and one female Quarian. They could hear some muffled conversation. The Turian stroked the Quarian in a manner that many would consider inappropriate, and she slapped his hand away. Moments later, the Turian's gun exploded and the Quarian was running toward them.

Shepard and her team wasted no time. Their weapons were immediately up and firing. She drilled one of the Salarians through the head, ripping through his shields in three shots. Beside her, Kaidan threw a Warp at another of the armed aliens, ripping him to pieces at the molecular level. There was a loud bang behind them and the Turian's chest blew open.

"Glad you could make it, Wrex," Shepard said, half-joking. The Quarian stood in between them and the now-dead opposition.

"Fist set me up!" the Quarian yelled in an accented voice. "I knew I couldn't trust him!"

"Calm down," Jane said gently. "What's your name?"

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," she replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, this is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, C-Sec Officer Garrus Vakarian, and Wrex."

"Thank you for saving me," Tali replied. "I get the feeling you did this for a reason."

Shepard nodded. "I heard you have evidence that could be used against the rogue Spectre Saren."

"I do," the Quarian acknowledged. "But we should find somewhere safe to talk about it."

"We could take her to the human embassy," Garrus suggested. "Your ambassador probably wants to see this anyway."

"Agreed," the Commander said. "Let's go."

* * *

"You aren't making my life easy, Shepard," Udina said, slowly pacing the room. "First you go on a wild tirade about the history of the galaxy and claim an esteemed Spectre is a traitor. And then you team up with a rebellious cop and shoot up a bar on a hunch. Oh, and what's this. You've brought three aliens into our embassy for no apparent reason!"

"Look, damn it, there's a very good reason I brought them here," Shepard snapped.

"Please, continue," Captain Anderson interjected.

"Tali," Shepard motioned to the Quarian.

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood," Tali explained. "During my travels I heard reports of Geth. I was curious, so I tracked a patrol of Geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed its memory core."

"I thought the Geth fried their memory cores when they died," Anderson mentioned. "Some kind of defence mechanism."

"My people created the Geth," Tali explained. "If you are quick, lucky, and careful, small caches of data can be recovered. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio tracks." Her omni-tool flashed into existence, and she skilfully manipulated the holographic controls.

"Eden Prime was a major victory!" Saren's voice bragged. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers," an unidentified female voice said.

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson exclaimed. "There's no way he'll be able to get out of this one."

"Who was the other one?" Chief Williams wondered out loud.

"I don't recognize her," Udina commented. "Sounds like a human female or Asari."

"Reapers," Shepard mused. "That's not good. If Saren can bring the Reapers back, then there may be no stopping them."

"Shepard, you claim to have all that knowledge in your head," Udina said. "Any idea what the Conduit is?"

"I'm getting a bunch of ideas on how to transfer power more efficiently, but that's it," the Commander replied ruefully.

"Really?" Tali asked, bringing up her omni-tool again. "What would those be?"

"Not now, Tali," Shepard scolded. "Was there anything on the Reapers in that memory core?"

"According to the Geth, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed fifty thousand years ago," Tali explained. "The Reapers hunted the Protheans to extinction, then they vanished. At least some Geth revere them as gods."

"They're a lot older than that," Shepard corrected. "And they didn't just disappear."

"What makes you say that?" Tali asked skeptically.

There was an awkward pause. "Damn, I forgot I didn't tell you about the beacon."

"Reapers or no Reapers, we've got Saren," Captain Anderson said, pounding his fist into his palm. "You can fill Tali in on the way. Udina will set up a meeting with the council."

"The Council's just going to love this," Udina said to Anderson after Shepard and her group left.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space," Anderson countered. "They took down races that were much more advanced than us. We have to tell them. If Saren's really bringing them back..."

"The Council is going to be embarrassed," Udina replied. "Saren is one of their top agents."

"The evidence is solid," Anderson said. "No matter what they think of the rest of this, the audio files prove Saren's a traitor!"

"All right, I'll make the call."

* * *

"That's incredible, Commander Shepard!" Tali said as they left the elevator. "Still, I find it hard to believe."

Wrex offered his opinion. "I still think it's a load of crap. But I'm no scientist, so I'll leave it up to someone else to decide."

They had no more time to talk. "Come on, Shepard," Captain Anderson urged. "Udina's presenting the evidence to the council."

"...evidence is irrefutable," the Turian councillor said. "It will need to be double-checked, of course. As of now, however, Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to apprehend him."

"I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren," the Asari councillor offered. "Matriarch Benezia, a very powerful and influential Asari. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in the Reapers," the Salarian councillor said. "What would Saren and the Geth want with them?"

"The Geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of machine life," Tali explained. "Saren is trying to find something called the Conduit. It must be the key to bringing them back."

"The Reapers never could build a decent hyperdrive," Shepard commented. "They probably have another way of coming back, like a giant mass relay or something."

"Listen to what you're saying," the Turian councillor spat, disgusted. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible! We've never found any trace of their existence."

"Don't make the same mistake again," Shepard replied. "I tried to warn you about Saren, you didn't listen. Now you believe me."

"That's different, Commander," the Asari argued. "You proved Saren betrayed the council. We all agree that he is working with the Geth to find the Conduit. We do not know why."

"The Reapers are a myth," the Salarian councillor agreed. "A convenient lie Saren is using to bend the Geth to his will."

"Millions of years ago, the Reapers wiped out all life in the galaxy," Shepard shot back. "Fifty thousand years ago they did it again. What do you think they were doing between the time they almost destroyed humanity and the time they wiped out the Protheans?"

"Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life," the Turian councillor said. "He no longer has the resources or rights of a Spectre. Saren has had his position stripped and is no longer a threat."

"That is not good enough!" Udina argued. "He's still hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send the fleet in!"

"A fleet cannot track down one man," the Salarian dismissed.

"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region and keep the Geth from attacking any more human colonies," Udina said.

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems," the Turian countered. "We will not risk a galactic confrontation over a few human colonies."

"I can take Saren down," Shepard said confidently. "You were considering making me a Spectre- go ahead and do it. Give me a ship, a team, and some equipment and I'll kill him myself."

"The Commander is right," the Asari agreed. "There is a way to stop Saren that doesn't require fleets or armies."

"By sending a mentally disturbed human?" the Turian councillor roared. "No! Humanity is not ready, and even if they were, Commander Shepard would be my last choice."

"You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre," Shepard shot back. "Everyone's happy."

"Commander Shepard has proved herself capable," the Asari agreed. "Despite the beacon, she does not show any signs of mental degradation. At this point, she is our best hope at eliminating Saren."

"I still don't like this," the Turian muttered. "We will now vote on the issue."

There was a short pause. The three councillors looked down at their terminals, each member tapping on it once. They looked up, almost in unison. "Commander Shepard, step forward," the Asari councillor ordered.

Captain Anderson nodded, and Shepard stepped forward, directly in front of the Asari councillor. Around the room, several people gathered to watch.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," the Asari began.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen," the Salarian councillor continued. "Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an idea, a symbol," the Asari added. "The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden," the Turian said reluctantly, grating on the words. "They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander," the Asari finished. "This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"I'm honoured, Councillor," the new Spectre managed.

"We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren," the Salarian councillor explained. "He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him."

"It is a great responsibility, Commander," the Turian warned. "Any mistake will embarrass your entire species in the galaxy's eyes."

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," the Asari councillor finished.

"Congratulations, Commander," Captain Anderson acknowledged, shaking Shepard's hand.

"We've got a lot of work to do, Commander," Udina said. "You said it yourself; you need a ship, a crew, supplies..."

"Sir, with your permission," Shepard asked. "I'd like to take Wrex, Garrus, and Tali with me."

"It's not my decision, Commander," Anderson said. "You're a Spectre now. I would ask them first if I were you, though."

"Of course," Shepard said, turning to the aliens. "Wrex?"

"A storm's coming, and you and Saren are right in the middle of it. Count me in."

"Garrus?"

"Fighting a rogue Spectre with countless lives at stake and no regulations to get in the way? I'd say that beats C-Sec."

"Tali?"

"The Geth destroyed my homeworld and killed many of my people. Taking the fight to them would be a great way to spend my Pilgrimage."

"It will take us some time to get this all set up," Anderson explained. "Meet us at the docking bay in four hours."

* * *

"All right, people," Shepard explained as they stepped out of the elevator into the C-Sec academy. "Being a Spectre has its perks. One of those is access to high-quality equipment and an expense account to buy it with."

"You mean we're going shopping, Commander?" Ashley asked.

"Not exactly. Come on." The Commander took a left and walked down a short flight of stairs to the requisition office, her team in tow. "Hello," the Turian behind the desk said. "I take it you're Commander Shepard. Congratulations on becoming a Spectre."

"Thanks," she replied. "Do you have the items I requested?" During some of the horrendously long elevator trips, Shepard had put in several orders for various equipment.

"Pretty much all of them, even the Quarian exosuit you wanted." The Turian motioned to an eye scanner. "Standard procedure. We do this to everyone, even Spectres."

Shepard leaned down and put her face in front of the device. A beam quickly scanned across her eyes. "Identity confirmed," the Turian said. He began to haul out plastic cases from below the counter. In moments, eight small grey plastic cases were on the table. The Turian popped one open, revealing a squarish grey pistol wrapped in plastic, as well as accompanying manuals and accessories.

The Commander grabbed the pistol and removed the plastic. It was a very nice pistol, with a good balance and weight. The joints were perfect and the finish was of excellent quality. On one side, the squiggly logo of Rosenkov Materials was stamped into the metal.

"Rosenkov Materials Karpov," the Turian explained. "Still made in Izhevsk, which apparently has some historical significance to humans. Very high-end pistol, but I prefer Kassa's Razer myself. These are the premium model, with upgraded heat sink and optics as you requested."

Shepard put the pistol back in the case and closed it. The Turian moved the stack of pistols onto an anti-grav cart and lifted four larger cases onto the table. "I was unable to get the Viper shotguns from Hahne-Kedar. Something about a factory recall or something. These are Armax Arsenal Avalanche shotguns. Take a look."

The Commander, skeptical, opened one of the cases and removed the shotgun, handing it to Ashley and taking another for herself. It was not wrapped in plastic, but instead had a thin film of oil on it, preferred by Turian manufacturers. The weapon was hefty, but balanced oddly. The grip was uncomfortable, but adjustable.

"Damn, that's pretty good," Chief Williams commented. "A bit awkward, but seems like pretty high quality. Gonna have to clean the oil off, though."

"Armax Arsenal is one of the most esteemed manufacturers on Palaven," Garrus explained. "They produce arms for C-Sec and Turian special forces."

"I don't like Turians, but I can't fault Armax for their weapons," Wrex agreed.

Shepard put the shotgun back into the case, and Williams followed suit. The Turian carefully placed the cases onto the cart and added four more. The submachine guns came next, also eight in total. "Tempest submachine guns, made by Elanus Risk Control Services. These are still kind of rare. The concept of a submachine gun only came up when humans came along."

Inside the case was a decidedly odd weapon. What appeared to be a magazine, but was really part of the heat sinking mechanism, was situated near the muzzle of the gun. The trigger guard extended to the bottom of the grip and the stock was too short for practical use. "And the assault rifles?" Shepard asked.

"Also Rosenkov Materials, the Kovalyov model. The odd thing is, it came with a model of some ancient weapon and a picture of a guy since you bought more than five. Also made in Izhevsk, apparently." The Turian shrugged.

"I trust you, show me the sniper rifles." The requisition officer nodded and placed two plastic cases and a cardboard box on the table. "Four Viper semiautomatics, also by Rosenkovs. I take it you like that company? I also got four Striker rifles from Devlon Industries, though I hear they're discontinuing that model."

"You got my Widow, right?" Shepard asked.

"In the cardboard box," the Turian confirmed. Shepard opened the box, revealing an extremely large sniper rifle. It was a boxy weapon with a barrel as big as her fist. It was not light, but she lifted it effortlessly.

"That's one hell of a gun, ma'am," Williams said, also admiring the weapon.

She put the gun back in its box. The Turian added the sniper rifles to the cart, which now held a sizable stack of weapons. "Omni-tools and amps?"

"I couldn't get enough of any one model, so you'll find devices from several manufacturers. Rest assured that they're all top of the line, brand new units."

"Our armor?" Shepard asked as the officer balanced several more containers on the cart.

The Turian nodded. "Kassa Fabrications Colossus, just like you asked for. You're really sucking that expense account dry, Commander. Two human light, medium and heavy, one Krogan, one Turian medium, and one Quarian suit. You would not believe what I had to go through to get these." He looked at the overloaded cart. "I think you're going to have to carry these."

* * *

Packing six individuals (one a Krogan) and an overloaded anti-gravity cart into the elevator was uncomfortable to say the least. Shepard found herself uncomfortably close to Garrus and partially squished against the side of the elevator. They were all glad when it was over and they could pile out of the elevator.

"You're right on time, Commander," Captain Anderson said.

"I've got big news for you, Commander," Udina continued. "Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now."

"She's quick and quiet and you know the crew," Anderson added. "Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander."

"Thank you, sir," Shepard replied. "I will. Captain, if you don't mind me asking, was this really your decision?"

"A Spectre needs her own ship," Anderson replied. "And it's time for me to step down."

"You and Saren have a history," Shepard guessed.

Anderson nodded. "I was in your shoes twenty years ago- candidate for the first human Spectre. I failed, I didn't make the cut. It's not something I'm proud of," he said angrily. "But now is not the time to discuss it. Let's just say that I went on a mission with Saren, and he made damn sure the Council rejected me."

Shepard changed topics. "Any leads on Saren?"

Udina nodded. "Matriarch Benezia has a daughter, Liara T'Soni. She's currently on the Asari world of Illium, She's an archaeologist, studies ancient civilizations. Liara has some... unorthodox theories on the Prothean extinction."

"Saren's long gone, but we know what he's after" Anderson suggested. "He's got an army of Geth searching for the Conduit. You're just one person, but I'm confident in your abilities. You find the Conduit and you've found Saren."

"We had reports of Geth in the Feros system," Udina added. "There's also been some interest on the corporate world of Noveria, and rumours say that Matriarch Benezia is there."

"Don't forget the Armstrong Nebula," the Captain said. "The Geth are setting up outposts there- though I don't know how useful they'll be to you."

"And the Reapers?" Shepard asked, concerned.

"Your priority is Saren," Udina said forcefully. "If you stop Saren, you stop the Reapers, and people won't think you're quite as crazy."

Shepard nodded. "I'll take care of Saren. You take care of the political fallout."

"We have to get going, some important meeting or other," Anderson finished. "Good luck and godspeed, Commander."

"Thank you, sir," Jane replied, saluting as the Captain left. The airlock snapped open as she entered. After the decontamination cycle was complete, she headed forward to the cockpit while Kaidan and Ashley oriented the new crewmembers.

* * *

"Everyone on this ship's behind you, one hundred percent," Joker said. "The intercom's open, so if you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."

Shepard nodded, then began her impromptu speech. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders. Find Saren before he finds the Conduit. He is very powerful- he has an entire army of Geth behind him. If Saren finds the Conduit, it could mean the end of the galaxy as we know it."

"A lot has transpired over the past few days," Shepard explained for the benefit of the crew. "On Eden Prime, I was knocked out by what we thought was a Prothean artifact. You know that. What you don't know is that the artifact wasn't Prothean, and it didn't just knock me out.

"What happened millions of years ago to the galaxy only seemed like a handful to everyone on Earth. The Reapers, a race of sentient machines, descended upon the galaxy, weakened by several wars. They destroyed almost all organic life. It was around the early twenty-first century for Earth, but in some ways we were much more advanced than we are now. A top secret program had been venturing out into space for years. When the Reapers came, Earth was saved by trapping it in a time dilation bubble, saving Earth and causing the CSE. A small group of humans were left out in the galaxy, and left the beacon behind as a message.

"The Protheans didn't build the Citadel. We did. That doesn't make us superior. Despite all our technology, we couldn't stop the Reapers. It's not just about humanity. If Saren finds the Conduit and brings back the Reapers, the whole galaxy will suffer the consequences. Our first stop will be Illium, where we will search for an Asari named Liara T'Soni. She is the daughter of Matriarch Benezia, who is believed to be working with Saren.

"The stakes have never been higher, people. We- humans, Turians, Quarians, Krogan, everyone- need to work together. Failure is not an option. I need everybody at two hundred percent. This mission isn't going to be easy, but WE WILL STOP HIM!"


	3. Illium

Reboot Mass Effect: Illium

Shepard and her team go to Illium to find someone close to Benezia... and find a hidden secret on the way.

* * *

Shepard addressed her newly-outfitted squad in the airlock. "All right, people. Alenko, Williams, you know the drill. To the rest of you: No funny business. I don't want anyone attacking without provocation. No causing trouble, physically, verbally or otherwise. No stealing. We play this straight- I keep things clean. And though you have some freedom as mercenaries, I am in charge. Are we clear on that?"

There was a murmur of yes, uh-huh, and okay. "Right then. I know a lot of you are nervous about only carrying pistols. Relax. Illium is a civilized world, and we probably won't run into any trouble."

"That's not quite true, Shepard," Garrus said. "Illium is technically outside of Citadel space. It's Asari-controlled, or rather controlled by large Asari corporations. Business is business here, legal or otherwise."

"The Turian is right," Wrex added. "It's not lawless like Omega, though- they just have screwed up laws here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Shepard said as the airlock door slid open.

"Hello, and welcome to Illium," a friendly Asari greeted in the spaceport lobby, following them. "Would you like to buy some Hallex?"

"Is that legal here?" Shepard asked, quickening her pace and forcing the Asari to run alongside her.

"Oh yes," the Asari said, smiling and producing a datapad. They were now out of the spaceport and onto the street. "You'll have to sign this license agreement, of course."

Shepard stopped and confronted the Asari. "Look, I didn't become a Commander by being stupid. I'm not interested in drugs, and I saw right through your scam. Now get out of my sight." Shepard watched as the Asari scampered away, no doubt to scam some other person out of their money... or worse.

"So, who is Benezia's daughter, anyway?" Wrex asked.

"Liara T'Soni. Doctor Liara T'Soni, actually- she went to a human university," Shepard explained. "Archaeologist, digs up old Prothean ruins. I don't know what kind of connection she has to Benezia, but we're going to find her-"

"And kill her," Wrex suggested.

"No, we are not going to kill her," Shepard countered. "We need information. If she turns out to be a rotten apple, maybe we will kill her."

"What's an archaeologist doing on Illium?" Chief Williams asked. "Everything on this planet's already been dug up."

"Like I said," Shepard repeated. "We're going to find her and find out."

"Any idea how we're going to find him, Commander?" Lieutenant Alenko asked. He had missed the briefing, suffering a bad headache caused by his L2 implants.

"Matriarch Aethyta," Shepard explained. "She claims to know where Liara is. And she's willing to help us."

* * *

They went to the address Shepard had and found a bar, the Eternity lounge. It was small, but very modern and minimalistically decorated. They looked around fruitlessly for Aethyta. It didn't help that none of them knew what an Asari really looked like. Of the six Asari in the place, three they decided were too young, one was with her mate, one was passed out drunk and the last one was the bartender.

"Forget it, let's just ask the bartender." Shepard finally said. She walked over to the bar and sat down. "Do you know where I could find Matriarch Aethyta?"

"You're looking at her," the bartender said, her voice deep and gravelly.

"You're a matriarch?" Williams asked in surprise. "Man, I always thought asari matriarchs served as honoured advisers."

"Right. Which I do at this bar." Aethyta sighed. "Not what you'd expect. But you didn't come here to chat."

"No I didn't," Shepard confirmed. "I'm looking for Liara T'Soni."

"Matriarch Benezia's daughter, eh?" Aethyta leaned over the counter. "A couple asari and a salarian came in here recently- I think they were Eclipse mercs, real shifty types. Overheard them talking about kidnapping Liara and ransoming her for money or something. Not a very smart move. But hey, they're mercs. What do you expect?"

"So, Eclipse is after her?" Garrus asked.

"Either they've got her or they're going to get her very soon."

"Do you have their location?" Shepard asked, getting right to the point.

Aethyta laughed. "I'm a bartender, not an investigator. But being the good citizen I am, I slipped tracking devices into their drinks. Damn good thing I did, too. They left without paying."

"If you can find the mercenaries, why don't you go after them and kill them yourself?" Wrex asked.

"Ah, krogan. My father was a krogan, real tough son of a bitch. The reason is that I'm just too busy serving out drinks and advice. But I'll give you the codes so you can do it. Give 'em hell for me."

"We will," Shepard said.

* * *

The rented aircar was cramped, uncomfortable and smelled like old cigarettes and urine. It was also a piece of junk mechanically, bouncing dangerously up and down in the rainy, windy night and even stalling once. The worst part was that they payed top dollar. Shepard was going to have a not-so-friendly word with the dealer when they were done.

They had buzzed around above Nos Astra for over an hour, trying to get a fix on the locator signals with their omni-tools. It was difficult, as there was a lot of interference, they didn't have very good receivers and the signals were weak.

"I think I have it," Garrus finally said. He pointed to a brightly lit skyscraper. "Definitely in that building."

"I can confirm that," Tali added from the driver's seat. "Should I take it down to land?"

"Yes, go ahead," Shepard ordered. "For this I want to avoid violence if at all possible. Our goal is to to extract and interrogate Liara T'Soni, not to take out Eclipse. That being said, we're dealing with mercs. Violence is probable, so if we do end up shooting I want it quick, clean and efficient."

There was a bump as they landed on top of the building. Commander Shepard fastened her helmet and opened the door. "Williams, Alenko, stay with the vehicle and don't let anyone in." She wanted to find out how good these aliens really were.

"Yes, ma'am!" they said in unison. A moment after the Commander and her alien team disappeared through the roof access, they shared a quizzical look.

"Tali, track that signal and take point," Shepard ordered. The quarian drew her shotgun, a readout built into her suit making the omni-tool projection unnecessary. She led them around a corner, straight into a man carrying boxes of something or other.

In an instant the unfortunate man had four high-end weapons trained on him. He shrieked and dropped the boxes he had been carrying. "Please, don't kill me!"

Shepard lowered her weapon, the other three following suit with varying degrees of speed. "We're not going to hurt you. Have you seen an Asari around here?"

"Are you kidding?" the man replied. "This is Illium. Practically everyone is an asari."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Have you seen any asari being held captive?"

"It's an Eclipse building, they probably hold lots of people captive, but I don't know about it, okay? I only took this job because it seemed like a good deal, but the damn contract locked me in. Just let me go, I didn't do anything."

"Alright, fine. Get the hell out of here." The man scampered down the dilapidated, empty hallway.

"I think we should have just beat it out of him," Wrex said ruefully.

"He didn't know anything," Garrus argued. "It would have been a waste of time."

"We need to get moving," Shepard ordered. "Tali, how close are our Eclipse friends?"

"It's hard to tell, but most of them seem to be gathered two floors down from here." Tali seemed a bit nervous. She was young and inexperienced, and probably hadn't seen combat more than once or twice, if at all.

"Lead the way, Tali. We're right behind you."

* * *

An asari, clad in a ragged scientist's jacket, sat bound to a cheap chair in the middle of the room. Blood flowed from a wound on her head, and there were others all over her body. An electrical burn adorned her right forearm, and there was a smaller, more conventional one on the same shoulder.

"I've asked you before, I'll ask you again," another asari, clad in yellow Eclipse armor, asked. She held up a roughly cylindrical, crystalline object about the size of a loaf of bread. Her gloves were stained purple-blue with blood. "Where did you find this, and what does it do?"

"I don't know!" the injured asari pleaded. "I found it on Therum among Prothean ruins. It was probably some kind of decoration or sculpture."

"Erash?" the other asari asked.

"Unlikely," a salarian, also in Eclipse armor, replied. "Power readings are off the charts. It's a valuable piece of Prothean technology."

"Nassana is going to want to see it, whatever it is," the asari said nonchalantly. She turned to walk out the door. "Feel free to do whatever you want with her."

She didn't make it. At merely a foot away, her cheap armor was insufficient to protect her from the door flying out of its frame, propelled by a breaching charge. It smashed her ribs, pulverized her organs and smashed her brain and skull together. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"Move in!" Shepard ordered. She could see the body of one very unlucky asari, wearing Eclipse colors, on the ground. There was also an injured asari in a chair, which she had the good sense to fall over in. Another two asari and a salarian were also present, and they immediately drew their weapons.

They never had a chance. Shepard drilled the salarian straight through the head with a precise triple tap from her assault rifle. It handled like a dream, with excellent accuracy and smooth, mild recoil. Much better than Alliance weapons. In the meantime, Garrus repeated the same feat with one asari, and the combined shotgun fire from Tali and Wrex shredded the other.

"Are you Liara T'Soni?" Commander Shepard asked, untying the asari in the chair.

"Yes, thank you for rescuing me," Liara said weakly. She staggered up and crashed to the floor, moaning in pain. "My ankle, it is broken."

"Damn it," Shepard breathed. "I'm going to carry you, don't try to resist. This may hurt. One, two, three!" On three, the Commander hoisted Liara onto her shoulders in the classic position of a fireman's carry.

"Wait!" Liara called as they left the room. "The ancient energy device!"

"The what?" Shepard asked. She didn't have time for this.

"It is a device found by the-"

The radio crackled to life with the sound of Ashley's voice coupled with gunfire. "Commander, we've got hostiles inbound from all directions. We can hold them off, but not for long. I recommend you get up here as soon as you can."

"Acknowledged, Chief. Liara, you can explain later," Shepard ordered. "Tali, grab the device."

Tali hurried back into the room. Outside, Eclipse mercenaries stormed into the corridor. Wrex and Garrus immediately opened fire, ripping apart the first wave. Shepard did her best to shield the injured asari with her armored body.

"What does it look like?" Tali asked, tossing aside a datapad.

"Crystal-like, yellowish, kind of a cylinder," Shepard explained. How did she know that? With the new directions, Tali grabbed the device on the first try.

"Got it, let's go."

They moved quickly through the halls, toward the stairs they had taken on the way down. The group had nearly made it when four Eclipse mercs popped out of seemingly nowhere and opened fire. Liara screamed as a mass accelerator round ripped through her good shoulder. The others ripped apart the Eclipse mercenaries a moment later with a barrage of shotgun and assault rifle fire. They stormed up the stairs, but stopped before the hallway on the upper floor.

"Grenade," Shepard ordered, motioning. Wrex pulled out one of the discs and tossed it into the hallway. A moment later there was an explosion and several screams. Shepard and her team stormed in. One asari was still alive, and reached for his weapon. A shotgun blast from Tali removed his head completely.

The roof was practically swarming with Eclipse mercenaries trying to keep Shepard from getting back to the aircar. There was no way they could stem the flow and eliminate them all. They would just have to take their chances and run. "Williams, Alenko, covering fire! Everyone else, clear a path. On three... one, two, three! Move, move, move!"

It was a mad dash back to the aircar. The Eclipse forces fired away, weapons fire smashing into their kinetic barriers. With no degree of accuracy whatsoever, Shepard's team fired back, ripping a path to the aircar. Meanwhile, the two human soldiers still at the aircar tried to suppress the attackers. Kaidan glowed blue with biotic energy, and a moment later a warp ripped two asari to pieces.

Liara screamed, purple-blue blood streaming over Shepard's shoulder and arm. "Liara's hit, we have to move," Shepard ordered. She placed the asari into the aricar as gently as possible under the circumstances. "Tali, get it started!"

Tali was the third in, and ran past Shepard into the cockpit. Wrex and Garrus entered next, with Alenko and Williams last, providing covering fire as they took off. As gunfire peppered the rising aircar, Commander Shepard tended to Liara. She tore open a packet of medi-gel and coated both sides of the wound with her hands. The asari visibly relaxed as the gel relieved the pain, and the bleeding slowed and stopped. It wasn't permanent by any means, but would keep her alive.

"Uh, Commander?" Garrus said from the back. "We've got trouble."

The aircar rolled violently to one side, throwing the occupants around. Shepard did her best to keep Liara T'Soni from falling onto the floor. Outside, a missile streaked by the vehicle.

"Another aircar! This one's got a guy with a missile launcher in it." Garrus yelled. "I'm going to try to take him out." He pulled the Striker sniper rifle off his back, which quickly unfolded. Smashing the rear window out with the barrel, he took careful aim at the enemy. Before he could get off a shot, however, they disappeared behind a building.

"Where did they go?" Williams asked. A moment later, they pulled directly alongside. Three things happened at once. Tali jerked the aircar to the left. The mercenaries opened fire, some of their rounds making contact with Shepard's aircar. Chief Williams opened fire with her assault rifle, tearing out their window and flaying the other car with tiny bullets. The asari with the missile launcher screamed and dropped the weapon as they broke away.

The aircars pulled apart, with their car in the lead. For the second time, Garrus took aim and gently squeezed the trigger. The bullet didn't miss this time. It drilled straight through the windshield and into the head of the asari driver, killing her instantly. The aircar veered away and crashed into a building, exploding in a ball of flame.

"Did we make it?" Kaidan asked. "Are they gone?"

"No," Tali said intensely, pulling the vehicle hard to the right as another missile streaked past. A horn honked and a collision alarm sounded as they barely missed another aircar, crossing right through the traffic.

"Are there any damn cops in this town?" Williams asked. She leaned out the window, assault rifle in hand. The other aircar had a much more skilled driver. It chased them in and out of traffic, and moved around too much for either her or Garrus to get any decent hits in.

A pair of missiles streaked from launchers embedded in the other aircar. Tali quickly pulled their vehicle around the side of a tall and brightly lit building. One of the missiles exploded against the side of the building. The other burst through the hole and detonated on the far side, spraying their aircar with shrapnel.

"You bosh'tet!" Tali yelled, three-fingered hands moving quickly over the controls. The aircar was damaged quite badly and rocked even more precariously than before. "I can give us a decent landing but that's about it!"

Their aircar trundled along on a downwards slope, bouncing precariously up and down. It was much slower with a badly damaged engine. The undamaged aircar chased them easily, lining up directly behind them but bobbing around enough to deny Garrus a shot.

"Take us down, anywhere!" Shepard ordered. "We're not going to survive in the air!"

The enemy aircar easily matched their gentle bank and its missile launchers were loaded. They weren't going to make it. Oblivious of the traffic around, it lined up directly behind them, missile launchers about to fire.

Without warning, another flying vehicle, a larger freight type, crashed headlong into the undamaged aircar. Both severely damaged by the collision, the vehicles spiralled down, then exploded, spraying wreckage onto the streets below.

"Take us down, Tali," Shepard ordered calmly. "There might be more of them."

They touched down not-so-gently on the street, the aircar skidding several meters before finally stopping. Shocked spectators gathered as the ragtag crew exited the smoking vehicle. Shepard again carried Liara, who still couldn't walk. Tali grabbed the artifact from below the seat before exiting.

They had been headed back to the docks when they were attacked, and as it happened didn't come up too short. It was a quick run back to the docking area from the smoking wreckage. The receptionist was a bit shocked at the injured asari, but let them through. They had a galaxy to save, and Normandy had better medical facilities anyway.

* * *

They were long underway by the time Chakwas allowed Liara T'Soni out of the infirmary. As soon as she did so, Shepard called a meeting. They gathered in the briefing room. A testament to modern medical technology, Liara was able to walk with minimal pain and no limp. She was wearing one of the spare scientist's uniforms, Shepard noticed.

"Doctor Liara T'Soni, welcome abord the Normandy," Shepard said. "Sorry about the circumstances of our meeting."

Liara held up a hand. "Please, Commander, there is no need to apologize. Were it not for your timely arrival I would have been killed."

"Alright then, down to business," Shepard continued. "I've got some questions for you. Some of these may be sensitive subjects, and if it bothers you too much just say so and I'll back down. At the same time, I'd like you to understand that any information you give us could be vital to the survival of the galaxy."

"This is about my mother, is it not?" Liara asked.

Shepard nodded. "Let's start from the beginning. What were you doing on Illium?"

Liara got up and paced the room. "I had discovered a strange artifact on Therum, among the Prothean ruins there. It had an incredible energy signature like none I had ever seen. I am an archaeologist, not a scientist, so I took it to Illium to have a friend of mine examine it further."

"Eclipse wasn't after you for money," Ashley guessed. "They wanted the artifact."

"Precisely," Liara confirmed. "Erash sold me out! When I arrived on Illium, Eclipse was waiting for me. They demanded to know where the device came from, what it did."

"Wasn't Erash the scientist?" Tali asked quizzically.

"He could only determine what I had- that the device had incredible power potential. They assumed I knew more. They also wished to know where the device came from, perhaps to gather more."

Shepard opened a case concealed under her seat and removed the artifact. It looked familiar, somehow. A... oh, right. A sequence of images flashed through Shepard's mind, and in an instant she learned what it was. "So, Liara, did the Protheans build this?"

"No," Liara said immediately. "They merely found it. Even the great Protheans were unable to unlock the secrets of the device. I was about to tell the Eclipse this when you found me. I have a theory about the Protheans. It is not widely accepted, but I believe it is true."

"Alright, explain it to us," Shepard motioned with her hand.

"The Protheans were not the first, nor were they the greatest. There were many great civilizations before them. Each time, at the height of their empire, they collapsed catastrophically. Each time, all evidence was destroyed, as if no one wanted future generations to know what happened. The device I found is the oldest artifact I have ever seen."

"I know," Shepard said.

"You believe it?" Liara asked, taken aback.

"I don't just believe it, I know it," Shepard explained. "On Eden Prime, I inadvertently activated some kind of device that implanted a bunch of knowledge into my brain. And you'll never guess who built it."

"The Old Ones, a race that preceded all the others," Liara said confidently.

"No," Shepard shook her head. "We did."

"We?"

"Humans," Shepard clarified. She explained the revised history of the galaxy for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I see," Liara said, contemplating it. "It is incredible, but it makes sense. The Protheans probably built the outpost near your world to study the time, time-"

"Time dilation field," Shepard hinted.

"Time dilation field. The galaxy was once much stronger, but became weakened by war, and these Reapers destroyed everything. Then they continued the cycle, destroying the Protheans and countless other civilizations."

"They're not going to destroy us, though," Shepard said defiantly. "We know they're coming, we know what we're up against, and we've got a ZPM."

"A what?" Liara asked, confused.

Shepard held up the crystalline artifact. "There aren't many of these around, but the energy from just one coupled to the right weapon can wipe out an entire fleet. They were built by the Ancients, used to power Atlantis and the defence outpost under Antarctica..." Shepard trailed off, then looked up. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we've got proof."

* * *

"The council will never trust Cerberus. They'll never accept our help." The woman swayed as she talked, balanced on a pair of high heels integrated into a tight catsuit that left nothing to the imagination. Miranda was a superior human being, artificially created to be smarter, tougher, and more beautiful than anyone else. "Besides, most of the galaxy doesn't know or doesn't believe that the Reapers even exist."

"We only learned of it a few days ago, but it fits." The other person wore an expensive suit and puffed away on an expensive cigar as he talked. He was the head of Cerberus, looked and acted the part. The Illusive Man tapped his cigar on his chair. His artificial eyes seemed to spin as they focused. "Humanity has pulled through before. The galaxy was decimated, and would be decimated again. It is imperative that you make contact with Commander Shepard."

"And the Tria?"

"Show it to her, but don't turn it over just yet."


	4. Home Ground

It took a while, but it's finally here. Rest assured that Reboot: Mass Effect is by no means abandoned. It's going slow and steady, but will eventually be finished.

* * *

It was no secret that Garrus Vakarian didn't exactly like C-Sec. Too many rules, too much paperwork. You weren't allowed to use any good interrogation techniques. Weren't allowed to beat up criminals. Had to sign a million forms for everything. And for all that effort, it was a revolving door justice system. A common thief might spend a few weeks in the slammer before heading off to court and being released on probation, maybe with a bit of community service. A murderer might get a couple years. He was tired of it, tired of the catch-22 of his job. If he followed the rules, he didn't get results. If he didn't, he could be punished, or criminals even released on grounds of entrapment or police brutality. Fighting a rogue Spectre certainly beat C-Sec, but Garrus was surprised at the boring stretch he was currently enduring.

Recalibrating the Normandy's guns took around an hour. Tuning up the Mako another thirty minutes The Alliance mechanics were good, it was in tip-top shape. After that, he checked all his new weapons, cleaned and polished them. Having seen only a bit of use, that took him all of forty-five human minutes. The human text and numbering systems on the Normandy were a bit disconcerting, but he was getting used to them. After that, there was nothing left to do, except possibly play Galaxy of Fantasy. And only real losers played that.

Three other members of Shepard's inner circle inhabited the lower deck. Wrex didn't like turians, and Garrus didn't exactly blame him. He had mixed feelings about the genophage himself. Of course, it didn't have the same impact for Garrus. To him, it was an embarrassing moment in history to be shoved in a corner and forgotten. To Wrex, it was the end of his entire race. The old krogan's age didn't help. He remembered when the krogan were a proud warrior race. Now they were a shadow of their former selves, struggling to eke out an existence and not giving a damn about the future generations that would never come. He liked Shepard and they had at least one conversation about his family history, but didn't like Garrus at all and made that fact known. As for everybody else, well, he seemed pretty indifferent on the subject. Wrex didn't do much of anything. Usually, he just stood there like a lump, sometimes cleaning his weapons.

Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was military to the core. Garrus didn't find it odd at all that a female was in a combat position. The Turian military had been integrated hundreds of years prior. Of course, turians exhibited a lot less sexual dimorphism- female turians didn't need implants and mods to meet minimum standards. Chief Williams was normally respectful, but held an edgy personality underneath. They had had a brief chat when Garrus first got settled in. Ashley's family had been military, in fact she was related to the infamous General Williams. In that Garrus found a bit of a connection. His own grandfather had fought in the Relay 314 Incident. Ashley was suspicious of Turians, which was not unexpected, but kept her hostility checked. Her family had hampered her career, another thing Garrus shared- sort of. He could have been a Spectre- but his father was C-Sec and wouldn't have his son go any other way. Chief Williams was in charge of the weapons and armour, and spent most of her time cleaning and servicing them.

That left Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She was usually assisting the engineering department, and Garrus casually strolled the ten or so metres into the engine control room. As expected, Tali was standing in front of a console, her three-fingered hands gliding over the controls. She saw him and turned around. "Oh, hello, Garrus."

"Tali," Garrus wasn't exactly sure how to start this conversation, and an awkward silence lingered in the air. "So, uh, what are you doing?"

"Shepard let me help Engineer Adams with the engines," Tali said excitedly. "This ship is amazing, Garrus! I've never seen a drive core like this before."

"Erm, yes, that's... good, I guess," Garrus replied awkwardly.

"I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced! I'm starting to understand why humans have been so successful. A month ago I was patching a makeshift fuel line on a Batarian cargo tug. Now I'm standing on one of the most advanced vessels in Citadel space!" She gestured with her hands to exaggerate the point.

"I take it you spend a lot of time working on ships?" Garrus guessed. Though he didn't want to admit it, he knew very little about quarians. Basically, he knew that they had to wear exosuits because of infection or disease or something, created the geth which then kicked them off their homeworld, and lived on a massive flotilla of ships. Nothing more specific than that.

"It comes with being a quarian," Tali explained. "The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of my people. Ships are our most valuable resource."

"Right," Garrus cut her off. "You mentioned a pilgrimage back on the Citadel. What's that?"

"We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the flotilla, growing our own food, mining our own metals, processing our own fuel. But some things we just can't make on our own. That's what makes the Pilgrimage so important."

"So, they send you out to get things for your Pilgrimage?" Garrus asked, trying to understand.

"Sort of. When our people reach maturity, we leave our birth ships and seek acceptance with a new crew." Garrus understood the significance of that immediately.

"To maintain genetic diversity?" Tali nodded. "Interesting. Please, continue."

"The thing is, no ship wants to accept someone who would be a burden on them. So to prove our worth a gift is given to the captain of that ship."

"And if the gift is crap?" Garrus asked.

"There is a stigma attached to giving sub-standard gifts, however most captains will accept out of tradition."

"And the Pilgrimage is a sort of quest to get this gift?" Garrus thought he had the idea.

"Yes," Tali confirmed. "The quarian leaves his or her ship, leaving the fleet behind. We only return once we find something of value we can bring back to the fleet."

"Interesting," Garrus said. "Now would be the part where I say how we have something similar, and connect over a common, um, event, but really, turians don't do anything like that."

Tali laughed quietly behind her faceplate. She half joked, "Well, we do share chirality. Though contaminants in normal turian food would probably kill me."

"Right, the whole immune system thing. I can't imagine having to live my life in a plastic bubble." He added quickly, "No offence."

"None taken. It's not as bad as you might think- we're used to it now and it's taken as a fact of life. The suits are part of our culture now. Did you know that one of the most intimate things a quarian can do is link suits with another?"

Garrus almost blurted out something along the lines of "slightly creepy, but okay," when the drive core suddenly increased in brightness by about a factor of three. He shielded his eyes with a three-fingered hand, noticing that Tali's faceplate was slightly darker. The engineers talked excitedly, poring over their instruments. With the increased brightness came increased volume, with a high-pitched whine and noticeable vibration of the deck.

Commander Shepard slid out from behind an opened access panel. She wore an Alliance blue engineering jumpsuit, which was now covered in grease and dirt. Her hair was messy and filthy. Dusting herself off to no effect whatsoever, Jane stood up. "All done."

"Commander Shepard was modifying the engines to increase our speed," Tali explained. "I don't know if it is the knowledge inside her head or if she was always like this, but she is an amazing engineer!"

"Well, looks like it worked, ma'am," Joker's voice buzzed over the intercom. "Speed has increased tenfold. Looks like we'll make it to Arcturus in hours instead of days."

"And from there it's a straight shot to Earth," Garrus noted.

"How did you do that?" Tali asked, full of admiration.

Shepard shrugged. "Beats me."

* * *

"The pictures I have seen always showed Earth as warm and temperate, not cold and covered in ice," Liara commented, stepping out of the shuttle. They had been dropped at the coordinates Shepard had given- in the middle of Antarctica. All of them, except for Wrex, wore helmets, more to keep out the cold than anything.

"Palaven is twenty-two percent desert," Garrus replied. "But we don't talk about that part."

Jane knelt on the snowy ground. A series of images, coupled with sounds, concepts, and emotions, surged through her mind. This was where Anubis had attacked Earth. SG-1 had come on a cargo ship with a ZPM- one of them nearly died during the attempt. No, he was a pilot at the time, not a member of SG-1. They had come within a hair's breadth away from a full-scale alien invasion, and yet very few people were aware that anything had happened.

Commander Shepard sucked in a mouthful of slightly-warmed air. "Wrex, get the drill."

Setting up the drill took less than a minute. The legs were unfolded and secured, then the laser drilling unit attached to the top. The nature of the device prevented them from drilling straight down- Shepard set it for two degrees and activated it. There was a quiet whirring from the device and the ice began to melt away, steam rising from the rapidly forming hole.

"Are you sure it's here, Commander?" Chief Williams asked. "Looks like the middle of nowhere to me."

"Oh, it's here," Shepard replied confidently. "A couple years back, a group of scientists took samples of the ice. Found something slightly interesting but not worth further research. A few hundred metres that way, they found some stuff that was a lot newer."

"Someone made a hole," Williams guessed, correctly.

"Right. That was then-Colonel O'Neill, using a ring transporter of all things." Shepard checked the time on her HUD. Satisfied with the reading, she shut of the drill. "That should be about right. Who wants to go first?"

Chief Williams peered into the hole. "Well, that isn't exactly a super happy fun slide."

"Relax, Chief, I was only joking," Shepard replied, pulling two spikes and a length of rope from a hip pouch. She pounded one of the spikes into the ice and wrapped the rope around it, dropping the other weighted end into the hole. After that, she tugged on it, testing the strength of the anchor. Satisfied, she repeated the process. "I'll go first."

"I don't think that's a good idea, ma'am," Williams said.

"Chief Williams is right," Garrus added. "If you fall, the galaxy may go down with you." _Too melodramatic?_ Garrus thought to himself.

"All right, since you're the one who objected, you go first, Williams," Shepard ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Ashley Williams acknowledged, with a mock-dejected tone. She carefully positioned herself over the hole, holding on to the rope with both hands. Then she pushed off, giving the rope a bit of pressure with her gloved hands to slow her ascent. Several times she braked hard, absorbing the impact with her legs and pushing off again. It was a drop of a good few hundred feet, and she nearly botched the landing, hitting the ground hard. Drawing her assault rifle, Ashley looked around. It was a decent-sized cavern, dominated by a central pedestal and chair, with several side passages visible. "All clear, ma'am."

Garrus and Tali roped down next, followed by Liara and Kaiden, then Shepard. Wrex came last, after all of them. Three quarters of the way down, the anchors above pulled out of the ice under his weight, and he came crashing down, the shock of the impact cracking the ice above and causing it to fall down the hole. Wrex rolled out of the way before being crushed, but their exit was now blocked.

Shepard was otherwise occupied. She ran her gloved hands over the icy surface of the control chair, taking in the sights of the place. "_Terra Atlantus_. Except it isn't."

"Yeah, didn't you say it was in another galaxy?" Garrus asked.

Shepard blinked, a flash of images again burned into her mind. The great city, lifting off of an ocean, steam rising from all around it. The snowflake-shaped city-ship going through hyperspace. "It was here once, then it left for Pegasus. This outpost is all that remains."

She paused for a moment, then sat down in the chair. It flashed to life, lighting up blue and tilting back. "This sucker is the most powerful weapon on Earth- maybe the galaxy. It makes our entire orbital defence grid look like a peashooter by comparison. Right now, though, it's no good to anyone. The ZPM is almost depleted, has been for years."

Manipulating the device with her mind, Jane brought up a new screen, this one mostly just Ancient text. "Hmm, looks like there are still plenty of drones left. That's a good thing, we can defend Earth if it comes down to it."

"And you would just leave everyone to die?" Liara asked, shocked.

"We could use Earth as a safe haven for select members of every species. That's what I would do, anyway, but it's not my decision." A thin smile flashed across her face. Politics were a problem then, politics were still a problem. The SGC had made compromises and concessions, and yet had still nearly been shut down.

"Uh, I don't mean to wet your parade, Commander, but how are we supposed to get out of here?" Garrus asked, butchering the human expression.

Shepard's mind flashed back to the a scene shortly after the discovery of the outpost. A Carson Beckett- Doctor Carson Beckett- launched a drone, which very nearly killed Colonel- no, by that time he was a General- O'Neill. Ironically, if it weren't for that incident, Colonel Sheppard never would have joined the expedition. She briefly wondered if they were related. There was a service lift that the Atlantis Expedition had used, but it would be long out of service. No, that wouldn't work. Neither would the ring transporters, not without another end to connect to.

After it became apparent that they would lose the war against the Reapers, the contingency plan had been put into place. The last fully charged ZPM they had was used to power a time dilation field. Key people left for Atlantis or bases on the edge of the Milky Way. Most of Earth was blissfully unaware of what had happened, save for a slight glitch caused by the star and day/night cycle simulators shutting down at the end of the period. And of course, the spectacular failure of Orion Two. The Stargate had been moved- moved where?

"Right here," Shepard finished. She shook her head, trying to clear out the jumbled thoughts and the accompanying headache.

"What was that, Commander?" Kaiden asked, confused.

"The Stargate. It was moved back to the original spot- different gate, though. Tali, do you think you could rig up a power supply?"

"Please, Shepard, I'm a quarian. Give me some tape, a few pieces of scrap metal, and enough eezo, and I'll hand you a drive core."

"Glad to hear it," Shepard replied, standing up and allowing the chair to deactivate. "I'm sure you'll be able to find something in here you can use."

With the tunnel collapsed and the control chair shut down, the chamber was dark. Omni-tool flashlights were activated, casting odd shadows as the team swept them around.

Shepard led them through the passages, even she not really knowing where they were going. She stopped in front of what looked like a glass case set into the wall and put her gloved hand against it. "Stasis pod. Colonel O'Neill used this once. The circumstances weren't exactly good."

Colonel O'Neill had Ancient knowledge downloaded into his head, something which nearly killed him. The SGC had been desperate, with Anubis on his way to Earth and nothing to defend it. They were hoping to find the lost city of the Ancients- well, they did find it. But they couldn't get to it until months later. The Asgard were able to pull the Ancient knowledge out of his head, thankfully. Shepard shook her head again. Useless, it was useless. "We should get moving."

They came to a larger, more open room. This one was clearly used by humans, circa the early twenty-first century. There were several tables, with strange-looking devices, computers, and books strewn all over them. A skeleton sat ominously in the corner. The extreme cold had kept the place somewhat preserved, but significant amounts of rust still showed on exposed metal, and anything printed was nothing but rotted paper. Shepard picked up an ancient laptop computer off one of the tables. "Hey Tali, think you could get this thing running?"

She shook her head. "Not if it uses conventional magnetic or flash storage. The data will have long since decayed."

Crystal technology. Not actually dissimilar in principle to silicon integrated circuits, but much more advanced. The crystal was created with the circuitry instead of having it etched in later. This resulted in tighter integration, higher speeds, and better data retention. "I doubt it's a normal laptop. Give it a try."

"All right, Shepard," Tali said reluctantly. She fished a few wires and a small grey device out of pockets on her suit. One of the wires was terminated with a connector that slid right into the laptop. Tali shook her head. Humans held onto some things for way too long- the barrel jack was still common on Earth-built devices. She plugged it into the gray brick, which she set to the proper voltage with her omni tool. Prying the ice-cold laptop open, she double-checked everything and pressed on the power button. _Here goes nothing._

The screen immediately lit up, displaying a small SGC logo in the left hand corner and a line of text that read "CLASSIFIED MILITARY LAPTOP". It disappeared seconds later, replaced with a different black screen that read "Starting Windows". Four coloured orbs smashed together in the centre, forming a glowing four-square symbol. The same four-coloured logo appeared against a blue background, covered with small icons.

"I told you so," Shepard said, smiling. "The data lasts forever and you could drop it two stories, but will it run Crysis?"

Everyone looked at her funny. "Nevermind. Anything useful on it?"

"It's packed with terabytes of data," Tali explained. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "But none of it makes any sense."

"Okay, pack it up, we'll analyze it later," Shepard ordered. She walked slowly over to what appeared to be an old, broken down lift.

"You think that thing will actually work?" Lieutenant Alenko asked.

"No, no way in hell," Shepard replied. "This place, it brings back a lot of memories, but they're not mine. It's not a pleasant feeling."

"Those memories could save the galaxy, Commander."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Shepard muttered in response. She walked back over to the rest of the team. Tali was now carrying a shoulder bag, and Shepard briefly wondered where it came from. The quarian shoved a few odd-looking pieces into it, then looked up and nodded. They left the large chamber, heading back into the mess of ancient corridors.

"If you don't mind me asking, Commander, where are we going to go from here?" Ashley Williams asked. "I mean, are there any functioning stargates left?"

"There's one," Shepard replied simply.

Ash immediately caught on. "The Citadel? I don't think that's a good idea, ma'am."

"Well, it'll send the message across," Shepard confirmed, smiling. She led them into a chamber with a large stone ring at the other end. "And here we are. No DHD, thought so."

"This one's different," Garrus immediately noticed. "The chevrons, they're an orangy-red. The Citadel one had blue ones. And the symbols are different."

"They used a derivative of the newer Pegasus gates for the Citadel," Shepard explained. A rush of memories, these ones seemingly more recent. The completed Citadel, a truly massive structure. Five massive fusion reactors, one per ward, feeding on the gaseous nebula. It could dial another galaxy and it could do it again and again. Powerful shields and drone weapons protected it. Truly a sight to behold. They had promised General O'Neill cake for the dedication ceremony, and it had not been a lie. Then the Reapers invaded, and the Citadel was abandoned not long after it had been built.

Shepard cradled her head in her arms. "Are you all right, ma'am?" Chief Williams asked.

The Commander recovered quickly. "Yeah, it's another one of those damn flashbacks. Tali?"

"Working on it, Shepard," Tali dumped several strange-looking pieces of junk out of her bag. Almost by magic, she assembled them into what was clearly some kind of power source within the space of five minutes. Tapping on her omni-tool, she smiled as the device lit up.

"Hook it up to the gate," Shepard ordered. "I hope this works."

Connecting the jury-rigged device took longer than putting it together. Finally, Tali stood up and nodded. "Done, Shepard."

Shepard tapped on her omni-tool, bringing up a program she had written only a day before. She entered the Citadel's address and waited. The inner ring of the Stargate began to turn for the first time in over a hundred and fifty years, which, Shepard realized, wasn't really that long for such an ancient piece of tech. One by one, six symbols were encoded, and then the circle-over-pyramid symbol made it's way to the top, where the top chevron locked down and stayed there. A water-like unstable vortex erupted from the front of the gate, and then it stabilized into the oddly familiar event horizon.

Her team stood speechless, staring at the puddle-like surface. Finally, Wrex broke the silence. "No sense standing around."

* * *

A crowd had formed around what had once been thought to be an ancient Prothean work of art, staring at the mesmerizing "puddle". Two female C-Sec officers, a turian and a human, attempted to keep the crowd back. Backup was on its way, of course, but they had to get through the growing crowd.

"Please remain calm, there's nothing to worry about," the human shouted. She wasn't sure herself, but the thing seemed to be mostly harmless apart from vaporizing the barrier. It certainly seemed a lot safer than an angry mob. She had a nasty scar on her arm from the last one, where a makeshift firearm had ripped through her lightly armoured undersuit. Thankfully, this one seemed to be more curious than aggressive. And this time she was wearing full body armour, complete with helmet and matching assault rifle.

Moments later, a human emerged from the event horizon. She was clad entirely in armour, a medium Colossus set that cost more than the combined yearly salaries of both C-Sec officers. She had an assault rifle clipped to her back and a pistol on her hip. Piercing green eyes were visible beneath the woman's helmet. Two other humans in the same armour, a man and a woman, were just behind her, with a krogan, a turian, and finally a quarian following behind.

The Turian officer recovered from her shock first. She addressed the green-eyed woman who was clearly the leader of the group and said something fairly benign that would later gain her ridicule from the entire department. "Ma'am, I'm afraid you can't be here."

Commander Shepard stripped off her helmet, revealing somewhat messy red hair and a somewhat angry expression. "I'm a Spectre, I can be wherever the hell I want. Besides, shouldn't you be more curious about how I got here?"

If she was a human, the officer would be turning red. Turians, however, do not share the same blood colour or instinctive reaction. She fumbled with her omni-tool, and confirmed Shepard's identity. "Sorry, Spectre."

With Wrex's help, they pushed through the crowd, which was both curious about the device and wanted to meet the first human Spectre. Each of the team members reacted differently to the crowd. Tali, Ashley, and Garrus simply ignored them. Wrex didn't need to push people out of the way- they parted for him. Shepard politely refused to answer questions, as did Kaidan. The group made their way to the Citadel Tower elevator, where two serious-looking turians and an asari officer kept the mass of people away. Behind them, the Stargate shut down automatically.

Not unsurprisingly, Ambassador Udina was in the chamber, negotiating a trade deal. He was surprised when he saw the Commander and her team walking toward him. "Shepard? What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way to Earth?"

"I was just there. And I have a point to prove." Shepard walked right past Udina to address the council.

"This better be important, Commander," the Turian councillor spat, his usual unpleasant self.

The Asari shot him a look, then turned to Shepard. "You may make your report, Spectre."

Shepard motioned to Tali, who handed her bag over. She opened it and pulled out the laptop, reconnecting the jury-rigged power source and turning it on.

"It's an old computer," the Turian observed, folding his arms. "I fail to see what this proves."

Tali explained it to him. "Councillor, the fact that this device works at all is significant. This computer is very old- a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty years. At that point, humans used primarily magnetic, flash, or optical storage media, all of which degrade in a fraction of that. I haven't opened it yet, but it is likely that this computer uses something much more advanced."

"An easy fake," the Turian dodged. "This proves nothing. Besides, the testimony of a lone quarian on her pilgrimage is hardly a reliable source."

Ignoring the cynical and racist comment, Shepard continued, shooting a glance at Tali that hopefully said 'drop it'. She shrugged. "Have someone else check it, but I'm confident. If that doesn't sell it, take a look at this."

She tapped her omni-tool, bringing up the Citadel security footage. It was a bit fuzzy, but showed the Stargate activating and her group emerging from it. "You can't deny that. Feel free to confirm our timing with the Alliance."

The Asari councillor shook her head. "Spectre, although the existence of such advanced technology is interesting in and of itself, it does not prove the existence of the Reapers. It does not prove that the Citadel was not built by the Protheans. Such circumstantial evidence is useless to base a judgement upon."

"Tevos is right," the Turian councillor agreed. He made air quotes with his fingers, which looked odd for a species with only three in total. "This 'Stargate' was most likely built by the Protheans, who left it on your world. I find it laudable that your species was able to use it when nobody else could, but that does not change anything."

Shepard was getting more impatient by the second. "Okay, fine. Do you want to know where we found the other Stargate?"

"Earth. Again, that means nothing."

"It was under Antarctica, mixed in with some other advanced technology I'm sure you'd dismiss as creations of the Protheans. It was the original location of the lost city of Atlantis-"

"Atlantis? So now we're bringing fairy tales into this?"

"Would you shut up and listen?"

"Watch your tone, Spectre, you're out of line!"

Shepard took a deep breath. "Alright, please listen to what I have to say. The Ancients built an outpost below Antarctica. At one point, the city-ship Atlantis had been docked on top of it. The SGC discovered the outpost and used it to defend Earth from a Goa'uld fleet, then figured out that it wasn't Atlantis like they thought it was. It was, however, an SGC base for some time, and the weapon is still there. That good enough for you?"

The Turian councillor rubbed his mandibles. "You say there is an advanced weapon there?"

"Yes, and no, you can't have it. I'm not sure if moving it would even be possible."

"Though the existence of the weapon is a matter of some concern," the Asari interrupted, "It is not the subject of this meeting."

Nodding acknowledgement, the Turian councillor turned to face Shepard. "If that is all you have, then this meeting was pointless."

"Not completely," the Salarian councillor said, opening his mouth for the first time. "One of our STG teams dropped out of contact shortly before you arrived. They were investigating a stronghold believed to be controlled by Saren. Before they dropped out of contact, they sent out a priority signal."

"What did it say?" Shepard asked, interested.

"The transmission was interrupted and garbled, but the priority code speaks for itself. The STG operatives were on to something big."

"Okay, I'm willing to go with that. Where did the signal come from?"

"Virmire."

* * *

Should be pretty obvious what the next chapter will be.


	5. Virmire Assault

Chapter Five is here. This is the actual halfway point- I've extended the intended length of this story to ten rather than eight chapters. It will still be short, but not as short. And there will (probably) be sequels. Go check the spacebattles thread for more details.

* * *

Though the Citadel Tower Council Chamber was secure and off-limits to the general public, it was still not considered behind closed doors. A small room at the very base of the Tower served as a closed-off meeting room. It was swept for explosives and listening devices every day by top C-Sec agents and guarded by the same group. The best weapon, however, was secrecy. Although rumours inevitably spread, only a select few knew where the meeting room really was.

The room itself was nothing special. It was more than big enough for the three Councillors, but would have trouble seating more than a dozen. Four chairs were arranged around a central table. Three of them, like the table, were installed for use by the Council. The fourth was much blockier in design, designed for something shaped like a human, asari or quarian, and had existed as long as they could remember. They discussed taxes, budgets, and a trade agreement before someone finally asked the question that they all had in the back of their minds.

"What if Shepard's right?" the Turian councillor asked, finally breaking the question.

"It would turn the whole galaxy upside down, to use a human idiom," the Salarian councillor agreed. "Almost everything we know would have to be thrown out. The human supremacist groups would go crazy. The law is not specific, but the Citadel itself might rightfully belong to the humans."

"And we all know what would happen if that went through," the Asari councillor finished. "Fucking humans. They think they own the place- but maybe they really do. This human-centric garbage is the most ridiculous trash I've ever heard, and if it's proven to be right, then all sorts of wild theories are going to emerge. It could even start a war- and that's the last thing we need, especially if the Reapers are real."

She continued. "The scary part is that I'm actually starting to believe her. A lot of things we've simply assumed because we don't know any better. I dabbled in archaeology at one point and gave up because I couldn't find anything. Thinking about it, it would make sense if the Reapers or someone else scrubbed away ancient civilizations. Valern, what do you think?"

The Turian stroked his mandibles thoughtfully. "I believe her. We all know I'm never going to admit that outside this room, but I believe it- with some reservations, of course. I read the reports myself. The Stargate Program, though secret, did exist. The laptop and the information on it was not a fake. It was analyzed by two top tech experts and the hardware is much more advanced than anything we can build- maybe even above Prothean level. There are still some records that the Alliance has dug up, and the Antarctic base can't be ignored. And if that exists, the Reapers might too. Not to mention the ring sitting out there on the Presidium."

"Rewriting galactic history is bad," the Asari councillor agreed. "But facing a race of machines bent on destroying all organic life is worse. We haven't seen any hard evidence of their existence, but at first we didn't see any evidence of Saren's treachery or anything else Shepard said. We now know those to be true. Therefore, we must assume by extension that the existence of the Reapers is also true."

She continued. "With that being said, admitting that fact publicly would lead to mass panic. Like I said, wild theories would pop up and potentially gain credence. We would drop into a galactic dark age, and that's if the Reapers _don't_ show up. That, and there's no way I'm admitting that we fucked up. That would be political suicide."

"I agree that we can't change our public position," the Turian councillor said. "But we can't exactly do nothing, either. I suggest a series of low-key, classified operations. We can use the Spectres to gather intelligence and eliminate the Reapers before they become a threat. Possibly build up our forces, ostensibly to fight against an enemy of convenience, as well."

"We are facing a race that decimated a galaxy far more powerful than our own," the Salarian argued. "I'm not sure if that would do any good."

"If Shepard is to be believed, Earth fought against massively powerful enemies and won with a twenty-first century tech base," the Turian countered. "Admittedly, they had some help. I think it would be best if we looked for the same kind of help. Ancient outposts, benevolent advanced races, that sort of thing. Maybe we could take a second look at the Citadel, too. We really don't know much about it."

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" the Asari councillor concluded. "Officially, we'll deny everything, but we'll look into the issue."

* * *

Virmire. An STG team had disappeared after sending a high-priority signal. They thought it was Saren, but they didn't know. They didn't know if the salarians were still there, either. They had no idea what they were going up against. It wasn't a good situation. Not by SGC standards, not by Alliance standards, not by any standards.

Shepard had snapped on the last piece of her armour when Joker's voice came in over the comm. "Got a message coming in from the Alliance, Commander."

"I'll be up in a moment," she replied, heading for the elevator. A minute later, she was in the conference room, standing in front of the terminal.

Admiral Hackett got right down to business. "I know you're in a hurry, so I'll spare the pleasantries. It wasn't easy, but our forces were able to check out both Feros and Noveria.

"Noveria required a lot of political wrangling- you have Ambassador Udina to thank for that. Eventually, they let us send a small non-military team. Upon reaching Noveria, they found that a Matriarch had been there and headed to a research facility. They were delayed by weather, and by the time they got there, Matriarch Benezia was gone.

"Most of the facility was wrecked, but we did find was interesting. In one of the containment labs, there was a real live Rachni queen. Until we can figure out what to do with it, it's staying there. We'll be revealing that to the Council- the fate of an entire race isn't a decision to be made by us alone. Let's just hope they don't screw it up. It goes without saying that none of this can leave this room."

"What about Feros, sir?" Shepard asked.

"By the time we got there, not much was left. We rescued a few survivors from the colony and ExoGeni facility. The Geth had been there and trashed the place, but that wasn't the worst part. ExoGeni had been experimented with an ancient sentient plant they called Species 37. It's at least as old as the Protheans are, which alone would make it worth studying. That's not all, however.

"Species 37 emitted spores that could control people, and ExoGeni studied the effects by planting the colony right on top of it. We released general, but not specific, information on the incident. Top executives are being sued and their stock has plummeted. Although there isn't anything left, we believe that the plant may have had some connection with the Protheans that Saren was studying."

Admiral Hackett paused. "From what we've pieced together, both times Saren and his companions came, stayed for a while to study something of interest, then left. It is likely that the same will occur on Virmire if Saren really is there. We found some references to the planet, so it's quite likely.

"Any idea what he's doing?"

"That's the scary part. Our analysts think that he's found a cure for the Genophage, and may in fact be breeding an army of Krogan. We all know what they did to the galaxy last time. If you discover such a facility, your orders are to destroy it, no questions asked."

"Anything else, sir?"

"No, that's all we know. Good luck, Commander."

"Thank you, sir," Shepard replied, cutting the connection.

She exited the room, heading forward into the CIC and continuing into the cockpit. Joker turned slightly in his chair. "You always have the best timing, Commander. We're about to drop out of FTL."

Visible through the small windows, the blue-purple aura shifted to a clear view of normal space, the transition accompanied by a small but noticeable jolt throughout the ship. A blue marble of a planet loomed ahead of them. "Emission sinks active, stealth systems engaged. We are running silent."

"Nobody missed the hole we tore in space, Commander. We should probably get in- huh. I've never seen that before."

"What is it?" Shepard asked, concerned.

"Seems like we've got an extra set of sensors. Either they're really good at guessing, or someone's managed to make FTL sensors real. I'm picking up a facility on the northern side of the planet, with three ships parked near it. One of them is big, like really fucking big."

Shepard was relieved. "Oh, those sensors. I must have gotten bored. Take us toward the smallest ship near the facility. Fast and silent."

"You know, if you keep changing things like that, there won't be a Normandy left by the end of the month. That beacon did a real number on you."

"The technology isn't perfect- it won't kill a human, but it's not good for one either. That's what happens when you take something you barely understand and rework it."

"You sure you're okay, Commander? No offence, but I'd really rather not rely on somebody absolutely insane to save the galaxy."

"I'm fine," she snapped. "Focus on getting us in."

"Aye, aye, Commander. Just concerned, that's all."

"It looks beautiful from up here," Chief Williams commented, coming up behind her. Seeing the commander's odd gaze, she added. "Don't worry, Commander. I know what we might end up having to do."

Lieutenant Alenko was beside her, with Wrex, Garrus, and Liara behind. Shepard watched as Tali nervously bolted out of the lift to join them.

"Hold on, this is going to get rough!" Joker announced. He pulled the ship up, flaring as they entered the atmosphere. The vessel shook as they descended, advanced mass effect technology working against natural forces to bring it in safely. Suddenly, it lurched to the side as mass accelerator fire lanced toward them. "Well, I should have known they'd find us eventually."

* * *

Saren knelt down beside the Beacon. Like the last, it had not been pleasant. The device had been designed with primarily humans in mind. The images it gave him hurt both mentally and physically. The implants he had were of no use. But he knew what was at stake. The beacons were the key to the conduit, and he was going to find it.

"What is it?" he asked as a geth trooper approached him. An organic would have replied with speech, but instead the question was answered in a voice inside his head. That was one of the more useful implants.

_Ship identified as SSV Normandy inbound. Coming toward base. Defences ineffective._

"I thought you destroyed all evidence of this facility!" Saren hissed at the asari standing next to him.

"I did, to the best of my ability," Matriarch Benezia replied calmly. "However, it is possible the salarian infiltration team managed to get off a signal before they were destroyed."

_No signal detected on normal frequencies. Unmonitored transmission still possible._

"Lock down the facility! We will not allow them to interfere with our plans."

* * *

The impact of the Normandy against the ground was felt by all aboard. Shepard was thrown against a bulkhead and Alenko was knocked off his feet. Wrex was an immovable object, and Garrus and Liara had been lucky. As Williams helped him back up, she noticed that Tali had been smart enough to brace herself against one of the gunnery stations.

"Well, I got us down, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get us back up," Joker said to them. "Looks like it was a one-way trip."

"I guess the question of whether or not Saren was here has been answered," Shepard replied wryly. The airlock was thirty-some feet up in the air- they would have to leave through the cargo bay. "Elevator, let's go. We're exiting through the back door."

"Uh, Commander?" Joker said when they were halfway down the shaft. "One of the salarians is signalling us. Well, I think he's signalling us. I'm not sure what the hand-wavy thing means."

"Standby, Joker, we'll be making contact in a minute." The cargo bay door, which doubled as a ramp, was already open. The team strutted out into the shallow water, wading through it toward land.

"Hey!" the salarian called. "Captain Kirrahe wants to see you right away."

The tents were drab grey military-style affairs, several of them lined up in a row. They contained beds and various equipment. The edge of a small spaceship was visible over the hill behind them. Several salarians milled about, some helmeted, some not. One muttered, "I've been here so long my brood won't even recognize me."

"Captain Kirrahe?" Shepard asked.

One of the three salarians in the tent turned around. "Yes, that's me. Third Infiltration Regiment, STG."

The resemblance was slight, but Shepard couldn't shake the mental images of a race long dead. She held out her hand. "Commander Shepard, Spectre. You in charge here?"

Kirrahe didn't take her hand, but replied, "You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hot zone. There's no way we can make it out of here alive."

"I know that," Shepard snorted. "Do you have any other plan?"

"We stay put until the council sends the reinforcements we requested," Kirrahe replied simply.

There was a long, awkward silence. Finally, Commander Shepard broke it. "There won't be any reinforcements. Your transmission was garbled. They sent us to investigate it."

"What? I told the council to send a fleet! What you are doing is a repetition of our task. I lost half my men investigating this place."

"Which is?"

"Saren's base of operations," Kirrahe explained. "He set up a research facility here. It's crawling with geth and very well fortified."

"Wait, what kind of research are we talking about?" Chief Williams asked.

"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan."

"How is that possible?" Wrex asked, suddenly interested.

"Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage. We introduced it after the uprising to quell their numbers. Without it, the krogan will quickly overrun the galaxy. And these krogan follow Saren. We must ensure this facility and its secrets are destroyed." A proverbial click wen off in Shepard's head. So it was confirmed.

"Destroyed?" Wrex objected. "I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure could save them."

"If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again."

Wrex approached Kirrahe and nearly impaled him with a finger. "We are not a mistake! If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it!"

"Wrex, this isn't a cure. It's a weapon. If Saren is allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits- none of us will. Do you think he's going to allow the krogan to prosper? Once their usefulness is through, Saren is going to toss them aside like garbage.

Shepard turned to Kirrahe. "Captain, I agree with Wrex. If his people can be cured, we have no right to destroy that. It would make us as bad as Saren, as bad as the Reapers. However, we cannot allow Saren to breed an army of krogan. I'd like to save his research, but it must not stay in his hands, even if that means losing it forever. Wrex, can you live with that?"

"Shepard, I've trusted you so far. Hell, you've done more for me than my family ever has. I trust you, Shepard, and I'll follow your lead."

"I understand, Wrex. I'll do everything in my power to save your people, as long as it doesn't compromise the mission." She turned to Kirrahe. "If I ever hear anything that racist from you again, I'll make sure you go end up on a mission you'll never return from. Understand?"

"Not like we'll return from this one," Kirrahe muttered. "If we can put our differences aside for a moment, I would like to discuss the attack."

Shepard folded her arms. "Do you have a plan?"

"We were working on one before you arrived, but just didn't have enough people to make it work," the STG captain explained. "We can convert our ship's drive system into a 20-kiloton ordinance. Crude, but effective."

"Nice," Williams commented. "Drop that nuke from orbit and Saren can kiss his turian ass goodbye."

Kirrahe shook his head. "Unfortunately, the facility is too well fortified for that. We'll need to place the bomb at the correct location. The bomb must be taken to the far side of the facility. Your ship can drop it off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns and pacify any ground forces first."

"You want us to go in on foot?" Kaiden Alenko objected. "We don't have enough men!"

"It does sound a bit risky," Shepard agreed. "Are you sure there's no other way?"

"No, but I think we can work around that," Kirrahe replied. "I'll divide my men into three teams and we'll hit the front of the facility. While we've got their attention, you and your shadow team will sneak in the back."

"Your people are going to get slaughtered," Garrus pointed out. "Your plan is suicide."

"One big team, in the front," Shepard suggested. "This way, you'll be a lot stronger and can punch through any resistance. We'll meet in the middle and the Normandy can pick us up."

"Shepard," Tali interrupted. "I've been looking over the Normandy, and I think I can modify the missile packs into a makeshift artillery. Then again, it might just blow up the ship."

"So we've got artillery support, too. Hopefully Saren will think we're a bigger force than we really are."

"Interesting," the salarian replied. "It would have a higher chance of success, and we would appear a larger force. Still, it is doubtful many of us will make it out alive."

"Don't say that," Shepard snapped. The beacon had given her more than information. It had given her a different outlook. "We've beaten the odds before, we'll do it again."

"I like your optimism, but experience has taught me much the opposite." Kirrahe sucked in a mouthful of air. "Which is going to make what I ask even more difficult. I need one of your men to accompany me to coordinate the teams."

"Men?" the Commander snorted. _Sexist too?_

"Well, people," Kirrahe corrected, embarrassed. "Salarian breeding practices do not allow us to risk our females in our military."

Though she made the decision quickly, Commander Shepard didn't make it lightly. "Chief Williams, you'll accompany the Captain. No heroics, understood. Be careful out there."

"Aye, aye, ma'am," Williams replied.

"I'll have the ordinance loaded onto the Normandy and brief your crew on the detonation sequence. Is there anything else, Commander?"

"Good, do it. If there is nothing else, we should get moving as soon as possible."

"Everyone else wanted the krogan gone, but you want to save them," Wrex asked her when they were out of earshot. "Why, Shepard?"

"It's happened before," she replied slowly. "The SGC made contact with an advanced race known as the Aschen. Though they appeared benevolent, they actually destroyed entire civilizations through the use of a sterilization drug distributed under the guise of an anti-aging vaccine. That wasn't the only time, either. You'd be surprised- well, no, you wouldn't- how many times people have just stood around and let entire races die."

Wrex grunted, and Shepard returned to her position behind the salarian captain. Several of the group were loading a mushroom-shaped device onto the Normandy, with others cleaning weapons and making final preparations.

"Unit, formation!" Kirrahe called, and the remaining salarians formed a line. He began pacing in front of his unit, informing his men, "You all know the mission and what is at stake.

"I have come to trust each of you with my life - but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way.

"Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are."

Kirrahe's voice became more intense. "Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that, we held the line!"

He gestured with his three-fingered hands. "Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line!"

"Our influence will stop Saren!" He raised one hand, making a triangular gesture of special significance for his people. "In the battle today, WE WILL HOLD THE LINE!"

"Joker, do it!" With a blaze of missiles pouring from the landed Normandy, the Battle of Virmire began.

* * *

"What's going on?" Saren snarled. The facility shook as the missiles rained down. Most of the breeding facility was well-protected, but several other installations were vulnerable.

_Rocket artillery barrage. Communications network disrupted, drone platforms destroyed. Superficial damage to facility. Analysis: Unexpected resistance from unknown forces._

"I know that!" Saren hissed.

_Enemy assault commenced. Large force arrayed around front of base. Forces regrouping but taking casualties. Recommendation: Reinforce forward flank._

"Do it, send the krogan that are ready!" Saren ordered.

"Do you not think that is somewhat hasty?" Benezia countered. "They could simply be a distraction force, with another coming around the back."

"Shut up!" the ex-Spectre roared. "Because of you, someone reinforced the salarians, and now they're attacking our facility! Everything we've worked for could be ruined."

"The Conduit is our primary goal," the matriarch replied calmly. "Losing this facility would compromise our forces for the time being but not have a significant cost in the long run."

Knowing that his companion's assessment was sound, Saren admitted. "Make preparations to leave, but do not abandon the facility yet."

* * *

Commander Shepard climbed over a crumpled metal beam. Originally, the watery valley had been covered with circular platforms and walkways, but the artillery barrage had pounded them into rubble. A single door allowed access to the main building.

"Tali, open it," Shepard ordered. The quarian went to work, bringing up her omni-tool and waving it over the console. Her three fingers flew over holographic controls.

"Hmm, it's alarmed," Tali muttered. "I can disable it, or even sound alarms on the other side of the base."

"Just disable it, Tali. The salarians are having enough trouble as it is."

With a final tap on her omni-tool, the door slid open. Shepard motioned to her teammates, who moved inside and spread out ahead of her.

The room was fairly large and was probably used for storage. Various crates filled the space, illuminated by a scarce array of lighting devices. It seemed almost too quiet.

"Stay behind me, stay quiet, and don't fire unless you have to." Shepard crept between the crates, moving toward the other end of the room. Suddenly, a shadow flickered against the side of the crate. She held up her hand, motioning for her squad to stop, and drew a long, sharp knife. Creeping forward, she jumped the intruder from behind, clamping one gloved hand against his mouth and holding the blade across his neck.

It was a salarian. He struggled against her strong grip even as the knife bit into his flesh. Keeping the blade on his neck, Shepard whispered, "Are you one of Kirrahe's men?"

The salarian muttered something unintelligible. "Are you working with Saren?"

"Commander, two Geth are coming up fast behind us!" Garrus hissed.

"I don't have time for this." The commander flipped the knife around in her hand and brought the handle down between the 'horns' on the alien's head. She gently lowered him to the ground. "Move."

The team crept alongside the crate, flattening themselves against it as a geth platform strutted by. Though a thorough analysis of sensor input would reveal their position, the geth did not have the CPU-time to dedicate to that task. As the platform rounded the corner out of sight, Jane signalled her team to move forward.

Wrex went first, trudging across and dropping down behind what looked like a crane used for offloading cargo. The krogan battlemaster moved with surprising speed and stealth considering his bulk. Garrus was next, sprinting across the dim gap between cover, then Tali did the same. Lieutenant Alenko looked at Shepard, who nodded, then he followed.

"Liara, go!" Shepard ordered. She could hear that the platform was coming back around. Liara bolted from cover, but tripped and fell halfway. Cursing, Shepard ran after her, dragging her up and pulling her along to a position on the other side of the room. The geth rounded the corner a moment later, stopped, searched with its flashlight head, then resumed its pace.

"That was close." She lightly tapped the door control, causing it to slide open. "Move."

There was another, heavier door behind the first. It wasn't really an airlock, though it could function as one. The more military-minded members of the group realized that the opposite door was a blast door, and they were entering a more fortified section of the base. It took Tali less than a minute to hack the controls and open the door.

A lone salarian stood in their way. He held a gun shakily in one hand, which he raised toward Shepard and her team. Before he could fire it, Wrex had bolted forward and wrenched it from his grip with a snap of breaking bones. "What should I do with him, Shepard?"

"He's indoctrinated," she replied. Indoctrination. Reapers. "The indoctrination- it starts like a whisper or some urges, then it consumes you. When the process is done, you're a mindless husk. The Reapers did it to countless civilizations before wiping them out. I can explain it later. We don't have time to deal with him. Knock him out and put him somewhere they won't find him."

Wrex did as she said, hammering the frail-looking alien over the head and then literally shoving him in a corner.

"Kirrahe, we're in," Shepard said over the communication system. "What's your status?"

"Resistance heavy," the Captain replied over the din of battle. "Casualties light so far. Pushing onwards!"


	6. CANCELLATION NOTICE

**Cancellation Announcement**

After months and months of inactivity, I've finally decided to pull the plug on Reboot Mass Effect entirely. I have several reasons for doing so. First of all, I was never happy with the way the story went. It was originally intended as a oneshot, and when I expanded it most elements were thrown is as I came up with them. This resulted in a story that was inconsistent, made little sense, and didn't fit with any canon. It was also far too rushed, with too few chapters and each chapter too short. The character interactions that made the game great hardly made it into this story at all. I also kind of wrote this story on impulse, so I have had little motivation for continuing it.

The main reason for completely abandoning Reboot Mass Effect, however, is a far more pragmatic one. I simply do not have time. Between SGD (my main fic), Invasion, and Real Life (tm), I'm far too busy to write this story as well.

I've decided that I don't want to leave my readers hanging forever, though, so I'm doing something similar to what ElectricZ did with For Tomorrow We Die (which was quite good). I'm posting a summary, although mine will be far less detailed or polished. In the next few chapters I will post what little I had written for Chapter 6, along with a scene that didn't make it and an explanation of where the story was going to go.

I apologize for the cancellation. Much of this story's concept will be recycled into the Invasion MCAU, so if you liked this, read the latter when it comes out.


	7. Virmire Part Two INCOMPLETE

**Chapter 6 - Virmire Part Two, Part One**

* * *

Saren suddenly had what a human would call a "gut feeling". He turned to the geth platform. "What is the composition of the attacking force?"

_Twelve salarian, four unknown, one human._

He slammed his fist down on the table. How could he have been so easily fooled? "Reinforce the rear of the base! Sound the intruder alarm!"

The matriarch stayed oddly silent, he noticed. She knew better than to antagonize him.

* * *

Slowly, Shepard advanced through the cell blocks, her team following behind her. They seemed to have moved into some sort of cell block. It was made of the same dark grey metal as the rest of the base and had the same insufficient lighting, giving the space a creepy feeling, one of dread. Filling the cells were Salarians. Most of them just sat in the cell, dazed, or mumbled nonsense.

"What do you want? I told you everything! You- who are you?" one of them said as they passed. He shoved his face up against the clear door of the cell. "Alliance, right? I knew somebody would come. They tried to break me but couldn't!"

Jane held up her hand to stop. "Slow down. I need to know where you came from."

"Private Menos Avot, of the third infiltration regiment STG, ma'am. Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago. Glad to answer, ma'am! Never any answers from those bastards. Just whispers, and poking, and cutting."

"What did they do to you?"

"Experiments, I don't know what for. The effect of incessant whispering on my short temper? Who knows, I just need out!"

"I don't know, Shepard," Garrus said, voicing his concern. "Something's not right. He sounds like he needs a psych ward."

"Yeah, and we don't exactly have one of those," Wrex added.

Liara voiced her own opinion. "We must give him a chance to escape! Otherwise, we would be no better than Saren."

Shepard thought about it for a long moment. Finally, she said, "Set him free. He could help us."

As soon as the door opened, he drew a pistol and pointed it at Shepard. With lightning speed, she brought up her own and fired three shots, one in the abdomen, one in the neck, and one in the head. Calmly, she said, "Guess that didn't work."

Seconds later, an alarm sounded and a dozen geth platforms flooded into the room from a door on the opposite end. The team scrambled for cover as accelerator rounds flooded toward them. From his position just inside the cell, Kaiden yelled, "I think they're on to us!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Shepard replied, creeping above the shipping crate she was taking cover behind. She was able to take down one geth before the others forced her back down. "Wrex, Liara, Alenko, on my mark you hit them with your biotics. Everyone else, hammer them with everything you've got."

"Go!" she shouted, standing up and pouring rounds into the incoming geth. Beside her, the krogan battlemaster blew the head off of a geth with his shotgun while slamming another into the wall with biotics. The other geth found themselves either riddled with holes or smashed to pieces.

"Push forward! To the elevator, move!" It wasn't far, and the team slipped in just as more geth began entering the cell block. Ashley blasted one geth away from them as the doors shut.

It was a short ride to the top, and the doors opened automatically. Jane motioned for them to exit. The room was much larger, with a sloped wall along one side. Husks in some kind of scanning machine lined the room, with various tables and supply crates between them. Among them stood a krogan and and asari. Neither of them had noticed the team. She nodded toward the elevator. "Tali, shut it down."

"On it, Shepard."

"Williams, take the asari. I've got the krogan." Shepard aimed down the electronic sight, lining the crosshairs up with the large creature's hump. She depressed the trigger, brought the gun back down and fired three more bursts before the krogan finally dropped. Williams took out the asari in one burst.

"Oh, shit!" The scanning machines stopped, and the husks began to move toward them. From point-blank range, Williams ripped apart a husk with her assault rifle. Blood- if it could be called that- splattered all over her armour. The other husks rushed toward them. But they were exactly that- husks. Though still dangerous, the husks weren't particularly tough, and went down easily.

Jane surveyed the situation. Plenty of corpses, but nothing moving. There was a door on the other end of the space, which according to her map led toward their goal. "The geth are gonna figure the elevator out sooner or later. Let's keep moving."

/reach Sovereign's terminal

/save both... somehow

/nuke Virmire and done


	8. Notes and Deleted Scene

**Notes**

_This is what I used to write the story, and is probably why it's so disjointed._

CH2:

-project VELOCITY/the X302 mystery

-bring Cerberus in- meet Miranda perhaps?

-stargate is the conduit

CERBERUS BATTLESHIP TRIA?

Chapter Two: Investigation

-note stargate

-meet Garrus and Wrex and of course TALI (squee!)

-reveal Saren, but that doesn't mean shit

Chapter Three: Illium

-Illium: find Liara

-CAR CHASE SCENE

-criminals

-Noveria and Feros are pointless, since the Geth are merely pawns

-unfortunately, Liara doesn't know much

Chapter Four: Home Ground

-find proof of SGC existence

-still can't convince council

Chapter Five: The Chase

-Feros and/or Noveria and/or Virmire

-haven't figured this one out yet

-leads into Chapter Six

-Virmire+Maelon?

Chapter Six: Virmire Part Two

Chapter Seven: The Enemy of My Enemy

-Tali nanites?

-grounded at Normandy

-find delta site bunker somehow

-borrow hyperspace capable vessel from Cerberus

-only way to get there in time

Chapter 8/9: Apocalypse Now

-get to Citadel control chair

-override dialing and dial Pegasus

-destroy Reaper with drones *from Tria*

-go and put a few rounds in Saren

Chapter 10: A New Era

-congratulations, you are now part of the Council

-wormhole still open, maybe there are some guys on the other side?

-whole galaxy of possibility!

**Long Term Plan  
**

_I actually wrote these on a physical piece of paper and have roughly transcribed them for your benefit. And yes, this was intended to be a long series that I would never finish._

_Timeline_

RME (ME1+history lesson) "Cataclysm"

TC _The Collection_ (collectors=Wraith _though I later went back on this_) "Collection/CL"

MW _Machine War_ (a desperate war _so ME3 basically_) "Corruption/CR"

EX _Exodus_ (go to Pegasus _recycled from Halogate Pegasus_) "Commutation/CM" _why I picked this codename I don't know_

RM _Remnants_ (resistance, humans call colony "Kobol") "Catalyst/CT" _irony much, this was written LONG before ME3 was released_

? (variant of Breakpoint) (several thousand years later, on the run) _nBSG xover_ "Colony/CN"

_Tech Chart_

SG

+comm tech  
+mass effect  
+combat armor (_presumably personal IE body armor)  
_-hyperdrive  
-reactionsomething _(perhaps reactionless drive?)_  
-energy weapons  
-true shields

ME

+jump drive  
-mass effect  
-fake shields  
-armor _(again, body armor not ship or tank armor)  
_-good weapons _(hand weapons?)_

BSG

**Deleted Scene  
**

_Usually I save more cut content, but this is all I could dig up for Reboot Mass Effect. Sorry. Ashley's line at the beginning basically sums up my feelings about this passage.  
_

"It's like a damn group therapy session," Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams muttered under her breath as she passed Shepard on the way into the briefing room. Unlike soldiers of generations past, she was thin and trim, not heavily muscular, a product of various enhancements. Nevertheless, her hair was pulled back in a tight regulation bun. She had changed out of her pink and white armor in favour of an Alliance duty uniform.

Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was next. He wore a similar uniform, hair cut clean and slicked back. He was friendly and looked the part, but could be dangerous when provoked. Shepard knew that he once killed one of his instructors, by accident of course. "Commander."

Garrus Vakarian looked much like Nihlus or any other Turian to the untrained eye. Among Turians, he was considered tough-looking and handsome. He still wore his blue C-Sec issue armor, which was not uncommon among Turians.

Shepard could have sworn the deck shook when Wrex entered. The big Krogan was also still wearing his armour, but unlike Garrus still carried a shotgun. She would have to talk to him about carrying guns around on the Normandy. "Shepard," he acknowledged as he passed.

They waited impatiently for Tali to arrive. The aliens shifted uncomfortably in the human-designed seats. Alenko buried his head in his arms. Williams tapped her foot constantly. Shepard checked her watch several times.

"Chief Williams," she said after five minutes had passed. "Go down to engineering and try to find Tali."

"Yes, ma'am," Williams said dutifully, leaving the room.

Williams and Tali arrived about a minute later. "Sorry about that, Commander," Tali apologized. "I was helping Engineer Adams replace a power conduit."

"Mind telling us why we're here, Commander?" Garrus asked.

"I'd like to get to know my team, I'd like my team to get to know me, and I'd like my team to get to know each other," Shepard explained. "Unity is key. I can't have any mistrust in my team."

"Fair enough," Garrus replied.

"I don't like it, but I get what you're saying," Wrex said.

"I'm willing to share," Tali said cheerfully. The humans stayed quiet.

"All right," Shepard said after a pause. "Tali, since you were late, you get to go first. Tell us a little about yourself and your people."

"I am Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

It was actually based off the original SGC dialling program, and required the IA-256 processor in her omni-tool to run in Virtual i386 Mode to work properly.

"It's true, most of us will probably not make it out alive," the salarian agreed. "And that makes what I'm going to ask even more difficult. I need one of your men to accompany me. To help coordinate the teams."

Though she made the decision quickly, Commander Shepard didn't make it lightly. "Chief Williams, you'll accompany the Captain. No heroics, understood. Be careful out there."

"Aye, aye, Commander.""As a matter of fact, yes. The Normandy carries several missile packs. I think they can be modified to hit ground targets. They won't be able to destroy the main bunker, but we spotted some communications arrays and drone facilities on our way down. Destroying them should make both our jobs easier."

"As you all probably know by now, we're two hours out from Virmire," Commander Shepard began as Tali hurried into the briefing room, muttering something about the drive core. "There's a Salarian STG team down there, and they've stumbled onto something big."

"What is it?" Wrex asked.

"That's what we're going to find out. The STG team couldn't get out the whole transmission- but we know that there's something on that planet linked to Saren, maybe Saren himself."

Garrus leaned back, trying to get comfortable in the human chair. "So, what's the plan?"

"We'll go in stealthed and try to make contact with the STG team. Hopefully they'll be able to give us an idea of what's going on. After that, I guess we'll have to improvise. We find a stronghold, we destroy it. We find Saren, we take him down. We find some Prothean or Ancient technology, we take it."

"I hate to rain on your parade, Commander," Ashley interrupted. "But what if the STG team's dead?"

Shepard shrugged. "Same plan, but without the extra help. I know this won't be easy, but they don't know we're here. That ought to be worth something."

"That's not a plan," Wrex objected. "But still, I like it."

"Well, the thing is, we simply do not have any information past 'something big is happening'. Once we get closer, we might be able to get a couple of scans, but we're basically going on nothing. You may like it, Wrex, I don't, but there's nothing more we can do."

It was their fault, she didn't mention. Well, sort of. Apparently the device had given her a guilt complex, too. It was once theirs, then the Reapers got it and reverse-engineered it. The Ark of Truth, retrieved from the heart of the Ori home galaxy and used against them to turn their followers away from Origin. The jury was still out on whether it was the right thing to do or not, but if they hadn't done it, they would have swept through the galaxy. Just like the Reapers.


End file.
